E  GTT  HE  N, 


TEACES  OF  TRAVEL 


BROUGHT    HOME 


FROM  THE  EAST. 

, 


HEROD,  vii.,  58. 


NEW   YORK: 
WILEY  AND  PUTNAM,  161  BROADWAY. 

1845. 


R.  CBAiaHKAIW  Power  Fre», 


CONTENTS, 


PAGE 

PREFACE      v 

CHAP.      I.  OVER  THE  BORDER         ......  1 

II.  JOURNEY  FROM  BELGRADE  TO  CONSTANTINOPLE     .  11 

III.  CONSTANTINOPLE 23 

IV.  THE  TROAD 31 

V.  INFIDEL  SMYRNA 37 

VI.  GREEK  MARINERS 47 

VII.  CYPRUS 55 

VIII.  LADY  HESTER  STANHOPE         ....          .62 

IX.  THE  SANCTUARY           .        .         .        .        ...  84 

X.  THE  MONKS  OF  THE  HOLY  LAND      ...          .87 

XI.  FROM  NAZARETH  TO  TIBERIAS             ...  93 

XII.  MY  FIRST  BIVOUAC 97 

XIII.  THE  DEAD  SEA 104 

XIV.  THE  BLACK  TENTS    .        .         .         .      '..#       .          .110 
XV.  PASSAGE  OF  THE  JORDAN 113 

XVI.  TERRA  SANTA  .                          118 

XVII.  THE  DESERT 133 

XVIII.  CAIRO  AND  THE  PLAGUE 154 

XIX.  THE  PYRAMIDS 176 

XX.  THE  SPHYNX 179 

XXI.  CAIRO  TO  SUEZ 181 

XXII.  SUEZ 183 

XXIII.  SUEZ  TO  GAZA 193 

XXIV.  GAZA  TO  NABLOUS 199 

XXV.  MARIAM 203 

XXVI.  THE  PROPHET  DAMOOR 211 

XXVII.  DAMASCUS 215 

XXVIII.  PASS  OF  THE  LEBANON     .        .-._'.        .          .  222 

XXIX.  SURPRISE  OF  SATALIEH        ....  226 


2036059 


PREFACE 

ADDRESSED   BY 

THE  AUTHOR  TO  ONE  OF  HIS  FRIENDS, 

WHEN  you  first  entertained  the  idea  of  travelling  in  the 
East,  you  asked  me  to  send  you  an  outline  of  the  tour 
which  I  had  made,  in  order  that  you  might  the  better  be 
able  to  choose  a  route  for  yourself.  In  answer  to  this  re- 
quest, I  gave  you  a  large  French  map,  on  which  the  .course 
of  my  journeys  had  been  carefully  marked  ;  but  I  did  not 
conceal  from  myself,  that  this  was  rather  a  dry  mode  for  a 
man  to  adopt,  when  he  wished  to  impart  the  results  of  his 
experience  to  a  dear  and  intimate  friend.  Now,  long  be- 
fore the  period  of  your  planning  an  Oriental  tour,  I  had 
intended  to  write  some  account  of  my  Eastern  Travels. 
I  had,  indeed,  begun  the  task,  and  had  failed  ;  I  had  begun 
it  a  second  time,  and  failing  again,  had  abandoned  my  at- 
tempt with  a  sensation  of  utter  distaste.  I  was  unable  to 
speak  out,  and  chiefly,  I  think,  for  this  reason — that  I  knew 
not  to  whom  I  was  speaking.  It  might  be  you,  or,  perhaps, 
our  Lady  of  Bitterness,  who  would  read  my  story ;  or  it 
might  be  some  member  of  the  Royal  Statistical  Society, 
and  how  on  earth  was  I  to  write  in  a  way  that  would  do 
for  all  three  ? 

Well — your  request  for  a  sketch  of  my  tour  suggested 
to  me  the  idea  of  complying  with  your  wish  by  a  revival 
of  my  twice-abandoned  attempt.  I  tried,  and  the  pleasure 
and  confidence  which  I  felt  hi  speaking  to  you,  soon  made 
my  task  so  easy,  and  even  amusing,  that  after  a  while 


PREFACE. 


(though  not  in  time  for  your  tour),  I  completed  the  scrawl 
from  which  this  book  was  originally  printed. 

The  very  feeling,  however,  which  enabled  me  to  write 
thus  freely,  prevented  me  from  robing  my  thoughts  in  that 
grave  and  decorous  style  which  I  should  have  maintained  if 
I  had  professed  to  lecture  the  public.  Whilst  1  feigned  to 
myself  that  you,  and  you  only,  were  listening,  I  could  not 
by  possibility  speak  very  solemnly.  Heaven  forbid  that  I 
should  talk  to  my  own  genial  friend,  as  though  he  were  a 
great  and  enlightened  Community,  or  any  other  respectable 
Aggregate ! 

Yet  I  well  understood  that  the  mere  fact  of  my  professing 
to  speak  to  you  rather  than  to  the  public  generally,  could 
not  perfectly  excuse  me  for  printing  a  narrative  too  roughly 
worded,  and  accordingly,  in  revising  the  proof  sheets,  I 
have  struck  out  those  phrases  which  seemed  to  be  less  fit 
for  a  published  volume  than  for  intimate  conversation.  It 
is  hardly  to  be  expected,  however,  that  correction  of  this 
kind  should  be  perfectly  complete,  or  that  the  almost  bois- 
terous tone  in  which  many  parts  of  the  book  were  origi- 
nally written  should  be  thoroughly  subdued.  I  venture, 
therefore,  to  ask,  that  the  familiarity  of  language  still  pos- 
sibly apparent  in  the  work,  may  be  laid  to  the  account  of 
our  delightful  intimacy,  rather  than  to  any  presumptuous 
motive ;  I  feel,  as  you  know,  much  too  timidly — too  dis- 
tantly, and  too  respectfully,  towards  the  Public,  to  be  capa- 
ble of  seeking  to  put  myself  on  terms  of  easy  fellowship 
with  strange  and  casual  readers. 

It  is  right  to  forewarn  people  (and  I  have  tried  to  do  this 
as  well  as  I  can,  by  my  studiously  unpromising  title-page*) 

*  "  Eothen"  is,  I  hope,  almost  the  only  hard  word  to  be  found  in  the 
book ;  it  is  written  in  Greek  >'i<aQtv, — (Attice,  with  an  aspirated  c  instead  of 


PREFACE. 


that  the  book  is  quite  superficial  in  its  character.  I  have 
endeavored  to  discard  from  it  all  valuable  matter  derived 
from  the  works  of  others,  and  it  appears  to  me  that  my 
efforts  in  this  direction  have  been  attended  with  great  suc- 
cess ;  I  believe  I  may  truly  acknowledge,  that  from  all  de- 
tails of  geographical  discovery,  or  antiquarian  research — 
from  all  display  of  "  sound  learning,  and  religious  know- 
ledge"— from  all  historical  and  scientific  illustrations — from 
all  useful  statistics — from  all  political  disquisitions — and 
from  all  good  moral  reflections,  the  volume  is  thoroughly 
free. 

My  excuse  for  the  book  is  its  truth  ;  you  and  I  know  a 
man  fond  of  hazarding  elaborate  jokes,  who,  whenever  a 
story  of  his  happens  not  to  go  down  as  wit,  will  evade  the 
awkwardness  of  the  failure,  by  bravely  maintaining  that 
all  he  has  said  is  pure  fact.  I  can  honestly  take  this  decent, 
though  humble  mode  of  escape.  My  narrative  is  not 
merely  righteously  exact  in  matters  of  fact  (where  fact  is 
in  question),  but  it  is  true  in  this  larger  sense — it  conveys — 
not  those  impressions  which  ought  to  have  been  produced 
upon  any  "  well  constituted  mind,"  but  those  which  were 
really  and  truly  received  at  the  time  of  his  rambles,  by  a 
headstrong,  and  not  very  amiable  traveller,  whose  preju- 
dices in  favor  of  other  people's  notions  were  then  exceed- 
ingly slight.  As  I  have  felt,  so  I  have  written ;  and  the 
result  is,  that  there  will  often  be  found  in  my  narrative  a 
jarring  discord  between  the  associations  properly  belonging 
to  interesting  sites,  and  the  tone  in  which  I  speak  of  them. 
This  seemingly  perverse  mode  of  treating  the  subject  is 
forced  upon  me  by  my  plan  of  adhering  to  sentimental 

the  i».) — and  signifies,  "  from  the  early  dawn," — "  from  the  East." — Donn. 
Lex.  4th  edition. 


PREFACE. 


truth,  and  really  does  not  result  from  any  impertinent  wish 
to  teaze  or  trifle  with  readers.  I  ought,  for  instance,  to 
have  felt  as  strongly  in  Judea,  as  in  Galilee,  but  it  was  not 
so  in  fact ;  the  religious  sentiment  (born  in  solitude)  which 
had  heated  my  brain  in  the  Sanctuary  of  Nazareth  was 
rudely  chilled  at  the  foot  of  Zion,  by  disenchanting  scenes, 
and  this  change  is  accordingly  disclosed  by  the  perfectly 
worldly  tone  in  which  I  speak  of  Jerusalem  and  Beth- 
lehem. 

My  notion  of  dwelling  precisely  upon  those  matters 
which  happened  to  interest  me,  and  upon  none  other, 
would  of  course  be  intolerable  in  a  regular  book  of  travels. 
If  I  had  been  passing  through  countries  not  previously 
explored,  it  would  have  been  sadly  perverse  to  withhold 
careful  description  of  admirable  objects,  merely  because 
my  own  feelings  of  interest  in  them  may  have  happened  to 
flag ;  but  where  the  countries  which  one  visits  have  been 
thoroughly  and  ably  described,  and  even  artistically  illus- 
trated by  others,  one  is  fully  at  liberty  to  say  as  little 
(though  not  quite  so  much)  as  one  chooses.  Now  a  travel- 
ler is  a  creature  not  always  looking  at  sights — he  remem- 
bers (how  often  !)  the  happy  land  of  his  birth — he  has,  too, 
his  moments  of  humble  enthusiasm  about  fire  and  food — 
about  shade  and  drink  ;  and  if  he  gives  to  these  feelings 
anything  like  the  prominence  which  really  belonged  to 
them  at  the  time  of  his  travelling,  he  will  not  seem  a  very 
good  teacher ;  once  having  determined  to  write  the  sheer 
truth  concerning  the  things  which  chiefly  have  interested 
him,  he,  must,  and  he  will,  sing  a  sadly  long  strain  about 
Self;  he  will  talk  for  whole  pages  together  about  his 
bivouac  fire,  and  ruin  the  Ruins  of  Baalbec  with  eight  or 
ten  cold  lines. 


PREFACE. 


But  it  seems  to  me  that  the  egotism  of  a  traveller,  how- 
ever incessant — however  shameless  and  obtrusive,  must  still 
convey  some  true  ideas  of  the  country  through  which  he 
has  passed.  His  very  selfishness — his  habit  of  referring 
the  whole  external  world  to  his  own  sensations,  compels 
him,  as  it  were,  in  his  writings,  to  observe  the.  laws  of  per- 
spective ; — he  tells  you  of  objects,  not  as  he  knows  them  to 
be,  but  as  they  seemed  to  him.  The  people  and  the  things 
that  most  concern  him  personally,  however  mean  and  in- 
significant, take  large  proportions  in  his  picture,  because 
they  stand  so  near  to  him.  He  shows  you  his  Dragomen, 
and  the  gaunt  features  of  his  Arabs — his  tent — his  kneeling 
camels — his  baggage  strewed  upon  the  sand ; — but  the 
proper  wonders  of  the  land — the  cities — the  mighty  ruins 
and  monuments  of  bygone  ages  he  throws  back  faintly  in 
the  distance.  It  is  thus  that  he  felt,  and  thus  he  strives  to 
repeat  the  scenes  of  the  Elder  World.  You  may  listen  to 
him  for  ever  without  learning  much  in  the  way  of  statis- 
tics ;  but  perhaps  if  you  bear  with  him  long  enough,  you 
may  find  yourself  slowly  and  slightly  impressed  with  the 
realities  of  Eastern  Travel. 

My  scheme  of  refusing  to  dwell  upon  matters  which 
failed  to  interest  my  own  feelings,  has  been  departed  from 
in  one  instance — namely,  in  my  detail  of  the  late  Lady 
Hester  Stanhope's  conversation  on  supernatural  topics  ;  the 
truth  is,  that  I  have  been  much  questioned  on  this  subject, 
and  I  thought  that  my  best  plan  would  be  to  write  down 
at  once  all  that  I  could  ever  have  to  say  concerning  the 
personage  whose  career  has  excited  so  much  curiosity 
amongst  Englishwomen.  The  result  is,  that  my  account 
of  the  lady  goes  to  a  length  which  is  not  justified  either  by 


PREFACE. 


the  importance  of  the  subject,  or  by  the  extent  to  which  it 
interested  the  narrator. 

You  will  see  that  I  constantly  speak  of  "my  People," 
"  my  Party,"  "  my  Arabs,"  and  so  on,  using  terms  which 
might  possibly  seem  to  imply  that  I  moved  about  with  a 
pompous  retinue.  This  of  course  was  not  the  case.  I 
travelled  with  the  simplicity  proper  to  my  station,  as  one 
of  the  industrious  class,  who  was  not  flying  from  his  coun- 
try because  of  ennui,  but  was  strengthening  his  will,  and 
tempering  the  metal  of  his  nature  for  that  life  of  toil  and 
conflict  in  which  he  is  now  engaged.  But  an  Englishman 
journeying  in  the  East,  must  necessarily  have  with  him 
Dragomen  capable  of  interpreting  the  Oriental  language ; 
the  absence  of  wheeled-carriages  obliges  him  to  use  seve- 
ral beasts  of  burthen  for  his  baggage,  as  well  as  for  him- 
self and  his  attendants  ;  the  owners  of  the  horses  or  cam- 
els, with  their  slaves  or  servants,  fall  in  as  part  of  his  train, 
and  altogether  the  cavalcade  becomes  rather  numerous, 
without,  however,  occasioning  any  proportionate  increase 
of  expense.  When  a  traveller  speaks  of  all  these  followers 
in  mass,  he  calls  them  his  "  people,"  or  his  "  troop,"  or  his 
"  party,"  without  intending  to  make  you  believe  that  he  is 
therefore  a  Sovereign  Prince. 

You  will  see  that  I  sometimes  follow  the  custom  of  the 
Scots  in  describing  my  fellow-countrymen  by  the  names  of 
their  paternal  homes. 

Of  course  all  these  explanations  are  meant  for  casual 
readers.  To  you,  without  one  syllable  of  excuse  or  depre- 
cation, and  in  all  the  confidence  of  a  friendship  that  never 
yet  was  clouded,  I  give  this  long-promised  volume,  and  add 
but  one  sudden  "  Good-by  !"  for  I  dare  not  stand  greeting 
you  here. 


E  0  T  H  E  N. 


CHAPTER  I. 
Over  the  Border. 

Ax  Semlin  I  still  was  encompassed  by  the  scenes,  and  the 
sounds  of  familiar  life  j  the  din  of  a  busy  world  still  vexed  and 
cheered  me  ;  the  unveiled  faces  of  women  still  shone  in  the 
light  of  day.  Yet,  whenever  I  chose  to  look  southward,  I  saw 
the  Ottoman's  fortress — austere,  and  darkly  impending  over  the 
vale  of  the  Danube — historic  Belgrade.  I  had  come,  as  it 
were,  to  the  end  of  this  wheel-going  Europe,  and  now  my  eyes 
would  see  the  Splendor  and  Havoc  of  the  East. 

The  two  frontier  towns  are  less  than  a  cannon-shot  distant, 
and  yet  their  people  hold  no  communion.  The  Hungarian  on 
the  North,  and  the  Turk  and  Servian  on  the  southern  side  of 
the  Save,  are  as  much  asunder  as  though  there  were  fifty  broad 
provinces  that  lay  in  the  path  between  them.  Of  the  men  that 
bustled  around  me  in  the  streets  of  Semlin,  there  was  not,  per- 
haps, one  who  had  ever  gone  down  to  look  upon  the  stranger 
race  which  dwells  under  the  walls  of  that  opposite  castle.  It 
is  the  Plague,  and  the  dread  of  the  Plague,  which  divide  the 
one  people  from  the  other.  All  coming  and  going  stands  for- 
bidden by  the  terrors  of  the  yellow  flag.  If  you  dare  to  break 
the  laws  of  the  quarantine,  you  will  be  tried  with  military 
haste ;  the  court  will  scream  out  your  sentence  to  you  from  a 
tribunal  some  fifty  yards  off;  the  priest,  instead  of  gently  whis- 
pering to  you  the  sweet  hopes  of  religion,  will  console  you  at 
2 


EOTHEN.  [CHAP.  i. 


duelling  distance,  and  after  that  you  will  find  yourself  care- 
fully shot,  and  carelessly  buried  in  the  ground  of  the  Lazaretto. 

When  all  was  in  order  for  our  departure,  we  walked  down  to 
the  precincts  of  the  Quarantine  Establishment,  and  here  awaited 
us  a  "  compromised"*  officer  of  the  Austrian  Government,  who 
lives  in  a  state  of  perpetual  excommunication.  The  boats, 
with  their  "  compromised"  rowers,  were  also  in  readiness. 

After  coming  in  contact  with  any  creature  or  thing  belonging 
to  the  Ottoman  Empire,  it  would  be  impossible  for  us  to  return 
to  the  Austrian  territory  without  undergoing  an  imprisonment 
of  fourteen  days  in  the  odiou»  Lazaretto ;  we  felt,  therefore, 
that  before  we  committed  ourselves,  it  was  highly  important  to 
take  care  that  none  of  the  arrangements  necessary  for  the  jour- 
ney had  been  forgotten,  and  in  our  anxiety  to  avoid  such  a  mis- 
fortune, we  managed  the  work  of  departure  from  Semlin  with 
nearly  as  much  solemnity  as  if  we  had  been  departing  this  life. 
Some  obliging  persons  from  whom  we  had  received  civilities 
during  our  short  stay  in  the  place,  came  down  to  say  their  fare- 
well at  the  river's  side  ;  and  now,  as  we  stood  with  them  at  the 
distance  of  three  or  four  yards  from  the  "compromised"  officer, 
they  asked  if  we  were  perfectly  certain  that  we  had  wound  up 
all  our  affairs  in  Christendom,  and  whether  we  had  no  parting 
requests  to  make.  We  repeated  the  caution  to  our  servants,  anid 
took  anxious  thought  lest  by  any  possibility  we  might  be  cut  off 
from  some  cherished  object  of  affection  : — were  they  quite  sure 
that  there  was  no  faithful  portmanteau — no  patient  and  long- 
suffering  carpet  bag — no  fragrant  dressing-case  with  its  gold- 
compelling  letters  of  credit  from  which  we  might  be  parting  for 
ever  ?  No — all  these  our  loved  ones  lay  safely  stowed  in  the 
boat,  and  we  were  ready  to  follow  them  to  the  ends  of  the  earth. 
Now,  therefore,  we  shook  hands  with  our  Semlin  friends,  who 
immediately  retreated  for  three  or  four  paces,  so  as  to  leave 
us  in  the  centre  of  a  space  between  them  and  the  "  compro- 
mised" officer  j  the  latter  then  advanced,  and  asking  once  more 

*  A  '^compromised"  person  is- one  who  ha»  been  in  contact  with  people 
or  things  supposed  to  be  capable  of  conveying  infection.  As  a  general  rule 
the  whole  Ottoman  empire  lies-  constantly  under  this  terrible  ban.  The 
"  yellow  flag"  is  the  ensign  of  the  Quarantine  establishment. 


CHAP,  i.]  OVER  THE  BORDER.  3 

if  we  had  done  with  the  civilized  world,  held  forth  his  hand — I 
met  it  with  mine,  and  there  was  an  end  to  Christendom  for  many 
a  day  to  come. 

We  soon  neared  the  southern  bank  of  the  river,  but  no  sounds 
came  down  from  the  blank  walls  above,  and  there  was  no  living 
thing  that  we  could  yet  see,  except  one  great  hovering  bird  of 
the  vulture  race,  flying  low,  and  intent,  and  wheeling  round  and 
round  over  the  Pest-accused  city. 

But  presently  there  issued  from  the  postern,  a  group  of  hu- 
man beings, — beings  with  immortal  souls,  and  possibly  some 
reasoning  faculties,  but  to  me  the  grand  point  was  this,  that  they 
had  real,  substantial,  and  incontrovertible  turbans ;  they  made 
for  the  point  towards  which  we  were  steering,  and  when  at  last 
I  sprang  upon  the  shore,  I  heard,  and  saw  myself  now  first  sur- 
rounded by  men  of  Asiatic  race  ;  I  have  since  ridden  through 
the  land  of  the  Osmanlees,  from  the  Servian  Border  to  the  Gold- 
en Horn, — from  the  gulph  of  Satalieh  to  the  tomb  of  Achilles ; 
but  never  have  I  seen  such  ultra-Turkish  looking  fellows  as 
those  who  received  me  on  the  banks  of  the  Save  ;  they  were 
men  in  the  humblest  order  of  life,  having  come  to  meet  our  boat 
in  the  hope  of  earning  something  by  carrying  our  luggage  up  to 
the  city,  but  poor  though  they  were,  it  was  plain  that  they  were 
Turks  of  the  proud  old  school,  and  had  not  yet  forgotten  the 
fierce,  careless  bearing  of  the  once  victorious  Ottomans. 

Though  the  province  of  Servia  generally  has  obtained  a  kind 
of  independence,  yet  Belgrade,  as  being  a  place  of  strength  on 
the  frontier,  is  still  garrisoned  by  Turkish  troops,  under  the  com- 
mand of  a  Pasha.  Whether  the  fellows  who  now  surrounded 
us  were  soldiers,  or  peaceful  inhabitants,  I  did  not  understand  j 
they  wore  the  old  Turkish  costume ;  vests  and  jackets  of  many 
brilliant  colors  divided  from  the  loose  petticoat-trowsers  by 
masses  of  shawl,  which  were  folded  in*  heavy  volumes  around 
their  waists,  so  as  to  give  the  meagre  wearers  something  of  the 
dignity  of  true  corpulence.  The  shawl  enclosed  a  whole  bundle 
of  weapons ;  no  man  bore  less  than  one  brace  of  immensely 
long  pistols,  and  a  yataghan  (or  cutlass),  with  a  dagger  or  two, 
of  various  shapes  and  sizes ;  most  of  these  arms  were  inlaid 
with  silver,  and  highly  burnished,  so  that  they  contrasted 


EOTHEN.  [CHAP.  i. 


shiningly  with  the  decayed  grandeur  of  the  garments  to  which 
they  were  attached  (this  carefulness  of  his  arms  is  a  point  of 
honor  with  the  Osmanlee,  who  never  allows  his  bright  yataghan 
to  suffer  from  his  own  adversity)  ;  then  the  long  drooping  mus- 
tachios,  and  the  ample  folds  of  the  once  white  turbans,  that 
lowered  over  the  piercing  eyes,  and  the  haggard  features  of  the 
men,  gave  them  an  air  of  gloomy  pride,  and  that  appearance  of 
trying  to  be  disdainful  under  difficulties,  which  I  have  since 
seen  so  often  in  those  of  the  Ottoman  people  who  live,  and  re- 
member old  times  ;  they  seemed  as  if  they  were  thinking  that 
they  would  have  been  more  usefully,  more  honorably,  and 
more  piously  employed  in  cutting  our  throats,  than  in  carrying 
our  portmanteaus.  The  faithful  Steel  (  Methley's  Yorkshire 
servant)  stood  aghast  for  a  moment,  at  the  sight  of  his  master's 
luggage  upon  the  shoulders  of  these  warlike  porters,  and  when 
at  last  we  began  to  move  up,  he  could  scarcely  avoid  turning 
round  to  cast  one  affectionate  look  towards  Christendom,  but 
quickly  again  he  marched  on  with  the  steps  of  a  man,  not  fright- 
ened exactly,  but  sternly  prepared  for  death,  or  the  Koran,  or 
even  for  plural  wives. 

The  Moslem  quarter  of  a  city  is  lonely  and  desolate ;  you 
go  up  and  down,  and  on  over  shelving  and  hillocky  paths 
through  the  narrow  lanes  walled  in  by  blank,  windowless  dwel- 
lings ;  you  come  out  upon  an  open  space  strewed  with  the  black 
ruins  that  some  late  fire  has  left ;  you  pass  by  a  mountain  of 
cast-away  things,  the  rubbish  of  centuries,  and  on  it  you  see 
numbers  of  big,  wolf-like  dogs  lying  torpid  under  the  sun,  with 
limbs  outstretched  to  the  full,  as  if  they  were  dead  ;  storks,  or 
cranes,  sitting  fearless  upon  the  low  roofs,  look  gravely  down 
upon  you ;  the  still  air  that  you  breathe  is  loaded  with  the  scent 
of  citron,  and  pomegranate  rinds  scorched  by  the  sun,  or  (as  you 
approach  the  Bazaar)  with  the  dry,  dead  perfume  of  strange  spi- 
ces. You  long  for  some  signs  of  life,  and  tread  the  ground  more 
heavily,  as  though  you  would  wake  the  sleepers  with  the  heel 
of  your  boot ;  but  the  foot  falls  noiseless  upon  the  crumbling  soil 
of  an  eastern  city,  and  Silence  follows  you  still.  Again  and 
again  you  meet  turbans,  and  faces  of  men,  but  they  have  noth- 
ing for  you — no  welcome — no  wonder — no  wrath — no  scorn — 


CHAP,  i.]  OVER  THE  BORDER.  5 

they  look  upon  you  as  we  do  upon  a  December's  fall  of  snow — 
as  a  "  seasonable,"  unaccountable,  uncomfortable  work  of  God, 
that  may  have  been  sent  for  some  good  purpose,  to  be  revealed 
hereafter. 

Some  people  had  come  down  to  meet  us  with  an  invitation 
from  the  Pasha,  and  we  wound  our  way  up  to  the  castle.  At 
the  gates  there  were  groups  of  soldiers,  some  smoking,  and  some 
lying  flat  like  corpses  upon  the  cool  stones ;  we  went  through 
courts,  ascended  steps,  passed  along  a  corridor,  and  walked  into 
an  airy,  white-washed  room,  with  an  European  clock  at  one  end 
of  it,  and  Moostapha  Pasha  at  the  other ;  the  fine,  old,  bearded 
potentate  looked  very  like  Jove — like  Jove,  too,  in  the  midst  of 
his  clouds,  for  the  silvery  fumes  of  the  Narguile*  hung  lightly 
circling  round  him. 

The  Pasha  received  us  with  the  smooth,  kind,  gentle  manner 
that  belongs  to  well-bred  Osmanlees ;  then  he  lightly  clapped  his 
hands,  and  instantly  the  sound  filled  all  the  lower  end  of  the 
room  with  slaves ;  a  syllable  dropped  from  his  lips  which  bowed 
all  heads,  and  conjured  away  the  attendants  like  ghosts  (their 
coming  and  their  going  was  thus  swift  and  quiet,  because  their 
feet  were  bare,  and  they  passed  through  no  door,  but  only  by 
the  yielding  folds  of  a  purder).  Soon  the  coffee  bearers  ap- 
peared, every  man  carrying  separately  his  tiny  cup  in  a  small 
metal  stand,  and  presently  to  each  of  us  there  came  a  pipe- 
bearer,  who  first  rested  the  bowl  of  the  tchibouque  at  a  measured 
distance  on  the  floor,  and  then,  on  this  axis,  wheeled  round  the 
long  cherry  stick,  and  gracefully  presented  it  on  half-bended 
knee ;  already  the  well-kindled  fire  was  glowing  secure  in  the 
bowl,  and  so,  when  I  pressed  the  amber  lip  to  mine,  there  was 
no  coyness  to  conquer;  the  willing  fume  came  up,  and  answered 
my  slightest  sigh,  and  followed  softly  every  breath  inspired,  till  it 
touched  me  with  some  faint  sense  and  understanding  of  Asiatic 
contentment,  f 

*  The  Narguile  is  a  water-pipe  upon  the  plan  of  the  Hookah,  but  more 
gracefully  fashioned  ;  the  smoke  is  drawn  by  a  very  long  flexible  tube  that 
winds  its  snake-like  way  from  the  vase  to  the  lips  of  the  beatified  smoker. 

f  Fine  talking  this,  you  will  say,  for  one  who  can't  smoke  a  cigar  ;  but 
ask  any  Eastern  traveller  if  it  is  not  quite  possible  to  love  the  tchibouque, 


EOTHEN.  [CHAP.  i. 


Asiatic  contentment!  Yet  scarcely,  perhaps,  one  hour  be- 
fore, I  had  been  wanting  my  bill,  and  ringing  for  waiters  in  a 
shrill  and  busy  hotel. 

In  the  Ottoman  dominions  there  is  scarcely  any  hereditary 
influence  except  that  which  belongs  to  the  family  of  the  Sultan, 
and  wealth,  too,  is  a  highly  volatile  blessing,  not  easily  trans- 
mitted to  the  descendants  of  the  owner.  From  these  causes  it 
results,  that  the  people  standing  in  the  place  of  nobles  and  gen- 
try, are  official  personages,  and  though  many  (indeed  the  greater 
number)  of  these  potentates  are  humbly  born  and  bred,  you  will 
seldom,  I  think,  find  them  wanting  in  that  polished  smoothness  of 
manner,  and  those  well  undulating  tones  which  belong  to  the 
best  Osmanlees.  The  truth  is,  that  most  of  the  men  in  authority 
have  risen  from  their  humble  stations  by  the  arts  of  the  courtier, 
and  they  preserve  in  their  high  estate,  those  gentle  powers  of 
fascination  to  which  they  owe  their  success.  Yet  unless  you 
can  contrive  to  learn  a  little  of  the  language,  you  will  be  rather 
bored  by  your  visits  of  ceremony  ;  the  intervention  of  the  inter- 
preter, or  Dragoman  as  he  is  called,  is  fatal  to  the  spirit  of  con- 
versation. I  think  I  should  mislead  you,  if  I  were  to  attempt  to 
give  the  substance  of  any  particular  conversation  with  Orientals. 
A  traveller  may  write  and  say  that,  "  the  Pasha  of  So-and-So 
was  particularly  interested  in  the  vast  progress  which  has  been 
made  in  the  application  of  steam,  and  appeared  to  understand 
the  structure  of  our  machinery — that  he  remarked  upon  the 
gigantic  results  of  our  manufacturing  industry — showed  that  he 
possessed  considerable  knowledge  of  our  Indian  affairs,  and  of 
the  constitution  of  the  Company,  and  expressed  a  lively  admira- 
tion of  the  many  sterling  qualities  for  which  the  people  of  Eng- 
land are  distinguished."  But  the  heap  of  common-places  thus 
quietly  attributed  to  the  Pasha,  will  have  been  founded  perhaps 
on  some  such  talking  as  this : — 

Pasha. — The  Englishman  is  welcome ;  most  blessed  among 
hours  is  this,  the  hour  of  his  coming. 

Dragoman  (to  the  Traveller). — The  Pasha  pays  you  his  com- 
pliments. 

and  the  narguile,  without  being  able  to  endure  the  European  contrivances 
for  smoking. 


CHAP,  i.]  OVER  THE  BORDER. 


Traveller. — Give  him  my  best  compliments  in  return,  and  say 
I'm  delighted  to  have  the  honor  of  seeing  him. 

Dragoman  (to  the  Pasha). — His  Lordship,  this  Englishman, 
Lord  of  London,  Scorner  of  Ireland,  Suppressor  of  France,  has 
quitted  his  governments,  and  left  his  enemies  to  breathe  for  a 
moment,  and  has  crossed  the  broad  waters  in  strict  disguise,  with  a 
small  but  eternally  faithful  retinue  of  followers,  in  order  that  he 
might  look  upon  the  bright  countenance  of  the  Pasha  among  Pashas 
— the  Pasha  of  the  everlasting  Pashalik  of  Karagholookoldour. 

Traveller  (to  his  Dragoman). — What  on  earth  have  you  been 
saying  about  London  ?  The  Pasha  will  be  taking  me  for  a  mere 
cockney.  Have  not  I  told  you  always  to  say,  that  I  am  from  a 
branch  of  the  family  of  Mudcombe  Park,  and  that  I  am  to  be  a 
magistrate  for  the  county  of  Bedfordshire,  only  I've  not  qualified, 
and  that  I  should  have  been  a  Deputy-Lieutenant,  if  it  had  not 
been  for  the  extraordinary  conduct  of  Lord  Mountpromise,  and 
that  I  was  a  candidate  for  Goldborough  at  the  last  election,  and 
that  I  should  have  won  easy,  if  my  committee  had  not  been 
bought.  I  wish  to  heaven  that  if  you  do  say  anything  about 
me,  you'd  tell  the  simple  truth. 

Dragoman — [is  silent]. 

Pasha. — What  says  the  friendly  Lord  of  London  ?  is  there 
aught  that  I  can  grant  him  within  the  pashalik  of  Karagholookol- 
dour ? 

Dragoman  (growing  sulky  and  literal). — This  friendly  Eng- 
lishman— this  branch  of  Mudcombe — this  head-purveyor  of 
Goldborough — this  possible  policeman  of  Bedfordshire  is  re- 
counting his  achievements,  and  the  number  of  his  titles. 

Pasha. — -The  end  of  his  honors  is  more  distant  than  the  ends 
of  the  Earth,  and  the  catalogue  of  his  glorious  deeds  is  brighter 
than  the  firmament  of  Heaven  ! 

Dragoman  (to  the  Traveller). — The  Pasha  congratulates  your 
Excellency. 

Traveller. — About  Goldborough  ?  The  deuce  he  does ! — but 
I  want  to  get  at  his  views,  in  relation  to  the  present  state  of  the 
Ottoman  Empire  ;  tell  him  the  Houses  of  Parliament  have  met, 
and  that  there  has  been  a  Speech  from  the  throne,  pledging 
England  to  preserve  the  integrity  of  the  Sultan's  dominions. 


EOTHEN.  [CHAP. 


Dragoman  (to  the  Pasha). — This  branch  of  Mudcombe,  this 
possible  policeman  of  Bedfordshire,  informs  your  Highness  that 
in  England  the  talking  houses  have  met,  and  that  the  integrity 
of  the  Sultan's  dominions  has  been  assured  for  ever  and  ever,  by 
a  speech  from  the  velvet  chair. 

Pasha. — Wonderful  chair  !  Wonderful  houses  ! — whirr ! 
whirr !  all  by  wheels  ! — whiz !  whiz !  all  by  steam  ! — wonderful 
chair !  wonderful  houses !  wonderful  people  ! — whirr  !  whirr ! 
all  by  wheels  ! — whiz  !  whiz  !  all  by  steam  ! 

Traveller  (to  the  Dragoman). — What  does  the  Pasha  mean  by 
the  whizzing  ?  he  does  not  mean  to  say,  does  he,  that  our  Gov- 
ernment will  ever  abandon  their  pledges  to  the  Sultan  ? 

Dragoman. — No,  your  Excellency  j  but  he  says  the  English 
talk  by  wheels  and  by  steam. 

Traveller. — That's  an  exaggeration ;  but  say  that  the  English 
really  have  carried  machinery  to  great  perfection;  tell  the 
Pasha  (he'll  be  struck  with  that),  that  whenever  we  have  any 
disturbances  to  put  down,  even  at  two  or  three  hundred  miles 
from  London,  we  can  send  troops  by  the  thousand,  to  the  scene 
of  action,  in  a  few  hours. 

Dragoman  (recovering  his  temper  and  freedom  of  speech). — 
His  Excellency,  this  Lord  of  Mudcombe,  observes  to  your  High- 
ness, that  whenever  the  Irish,  or  the  French,  or  the  Indians  rebel 
against  the  English,  whole  armies  of  soldiers,  and  brigades  of 
artillery,  are  dropped  into  a  mighty  chasm  called  Euston  Square, 
and  in  the  biting  of  a  cartridge  they  arise  up  again  in  Manches- 
ter, or  Dublin,  or  Paris,  or  Delhi,  and  utterly  exterminate  the 
enemies  of  England  from  the  face  of  the  earth. 

Pasha. — I  know  it — I  know  all — the  particulars  have  been 
faithfully  related  to  me,  and  my  mind  comprehends  locomotives. 
The  armies  of  the  English  ride  upon  the  vapors  of  boiling  caul- 
drons, and  their  horses  are  flaming  coals ! — whirr !  whirr !  all  by 
wheels ! — whiz !  whiz !  all  by  steam ! 

Traveller  (to  his  Dragoman). — I  wish  to  have  the  opinion  of 
an  unprejudiced  Ottoman  gentleman,  as  to  the  prospects  of  our 
English  commerce  and  manufactures ;  just  ask  the  Pasha  to 
give  me  his  views  on  the  subject. 

Pasha  (after  having  received  the  communication  of  the  Dra- 


CHAP,  i.]  OVER  THE  BORDER. 


goman). — The  ships  of  the  English  swarm  like  flies  ;  their 
printed  calicoes  cover  the  whole  earth,  and  by  the  side  of  their 
swords  the  blades  of  Damascus  are  blades  of  grass.  All  India 
is  but  an  item  in  the  Ledger-books  of  the  Merchants,  whose 
lumber-rooms  are  filled  with  ancient  thrones! — whirr!  whirr! 
all  by  wheels ! — whiz !  whiz  !  all  by  steam  ! 

Dragoman. — The  Pasha  compliments  the  cutlery  of  England, 
and  also  the  East  India  Company. 

Traveller. — The  Pasha's  right  about  the  cutlery  (I  tried  my 
scimitar  with  the  common  officers'  swords  belonging  to  our  fel- 
lows at  Malta,  and  they  cut  it  like  the  leaf  of  a  Novel).  Well 
(to  the  Dragoman),  tell  the  Pasha  I  am  exceedingly  gratified  to 
find  that  he  entertains  such  a  high  opinion  of  our  manufacturing 
energy,  but  I  should  like  him  to  know,  though,  that  we  have  got 
something  in  England  besides  that.  These  foreigners  are  always 
fancying  that  we  have  nothing  but  ships,  and  railways,  and  East 
India  Companies;  do  just  tell  the  Pasha  that  our  rural  districts 
deserve  his  attention,  and  that  even  within  the  last  two  hundred 
years,  there  has  been  an  evident  improvement  in  the  culture  of 
the  turnip,  and  if  he  does  not  take  any  interest  about  that,  at  all 
events  you  can  explain  that  we  have  our  virtues  in  the  country 
— that  the  British  yeoman  is  still,  thank  God  !  the  British  yeo- 
man : — Oh !  and  by  the  by,  whilst  you  are  about  it,  you  may 
as  well  say  that  we  are  a  truth-telling  people,  and,  like  the 
Osmanlees,  are  faithful  in  the  performance  of  our  promises. 

Pasha  (after  hearing  the  Dragoman). — It  is  true,  it  is  true  : — 
through  all  Feringhistan  the  English  are  foremost  and  best ;  for 
the  Russians  are  drilled  swine,  and  the  Germans  are  sleeping 
babes,  and  the  Italians  are  the  servants  of  Songs,  and  the  French 
are  the  sons  of  Newspapers,  and  the  Greeks  they  are  weavers 
of  lies,  but  the  English  and  the  Osmanlees  are  brothers  together 
in  righteousness ;  for  the  Osmanlees  believe  in  one  only  God, 
and  cleave  to  the  Koran,  and  destroy  idols ;  so  do  the  English 
worship  one  God,  and  abominate  graven  images,  and  tell  the 
truth,  and  believe  in  a  book,  and  though  they  drink  the  juice  of 
the  grape,  yet  to  say  that  they  worship  their  prophet  as  God,  or 
to  say  that  they  are  eaters  of  pork,  these  are  lies, — lies  born  of 
Greeks,  and  nursed  by  Jews ! 


10  EOTHEN.  [CHAP.  i. 

Dragoman. — The  Pasha  compliments  the  English, 

Traveller  (rising). — Well,  I've  had  enough  of  this.  Tell  the 
Pasha,  I  am  greatly  obliged  to  him  for  his  hospitality,  and  still 
more  for  his  kindness  in  furnishing  me  with  horses,  and  say  that 
now  I  must  be  off. 

Pasha  (after  hearing  the  Dragoman,  and  standing  up  on  his 
Divan). — Proud  are  the  sires,  and  blessed  are  the  dams  of  the 
horses  that  shall  carry  his  Excellency  to  the  end  of  his  prosper, 
ous  journey. — May  the  saddle  beneath  him  glide  down  to  the 
gates  of  the  happy  city,  like  a  boat  swimming  on  the  third  river 
of  Paradise. — May  he  sleep  the  sleep  of  a  child,  when  his  friends 
are  around  him,  and  the  while  that  his  enemies  are  abroad,  may 
his  eyes  flame  red  through  the  darkness — more  red  than  the  eyes 
of  ten  tigers  ! — farewell ! 

Dragoman. — The  Pasha  wishes  your  Excellency  a  pleasant 
journey. 

So  ends  the  visit, 


CHAP,  ii.]   JOURNEY— BELGRADE  TO  CONSTANTINOPLE.        11 


CHAPTER  II. 

Journey  from  Belgrade  to  Constantinople. 

IN  two  or  three  hours  our  party  was  ready ;  the  servants,  the 
Tatars,  the  mounted  Suridgees,  and  the  baggage-horses  alto- 
gether made  up  a  strong  cavalcade.  The  accomplished  Mysseri, 
of  whom  you  have  heard  me  speak  so  often,  and  who  served  me 
so  faithfully  throughout  my  oriental  journeys,  acted  as  our 
interpreter,  and  was,  in  fact,  the  brain  of  our  corps.  The  Ta- 
tar, you  know,  is  a  government  courier  properly  employed  in 
carrying  despatches,  but  also  sent  with  travellers  to  speed  them 
on  their  way,  and  answer  with  his  head  for  their  safety.  The 
man  whose  head  was  thus  pledged  for  our  precious  lives  was  a 
glorious  looking  fellow,  with  the  regular,  and  handsome  cast  of 
countenance,  which  is  now  characteristic  of  the  Ottoman  race.* 
His  features  displayed  a  good  deal  of  serene  pride,  self-respect, 
fortitude,  a  kind  of  ingenuous  sensuality,  and  something  of 
instinctive  wisdom,  without  any  sharpness  of  intellect.  He  had 
been  a  Janissary  (as  I  afterwards  found),  and  kept  up  the  odd 
strut  of  his  old  corps,  which  used  to  affright  the  Christians  in 
former  times ; — that  rolling  gait  is  so  comically  pompous,  that  a 
close  imitation  of  it,  even  in  the  broadest  farce,  would  be  looked 
upon  as  a  very  rough  over-acting  of  the  character.  It  is  occa- 
sioned in  part  by  the  dress,  and  accoutrements.  The  heavy 
bundle  of  weapons  carried  upon  the  chest  throws  back  the  body 
so  as  to  give  it  a  wonderful  portliness,  whilst  the  immense  masses 
of  clothes  that  swathe  his  limbs,  force  the  wearer  in  walking,  to 
swing  himself  heavily  round  from  left  to  right,  and  from  right  to 
left — in  truth,  this  great  edifice  of  woollen,  and  cotton,  and  silk, 

*  The  continual  marriages  of  these  people,  with  the  chosen  beauties  of 
Georgia  and  Circassia,  have  overpowered  the  original  ugliness  of  their  Tatar 
ancestors. 


12  EOTHEN.  [CHAP.  n. 

and  silver,  and  brass,  and  steel,  is  not  at  all  fitted  for  moving  on 
foot ;  it  cannot  even  walk  without  ludicrously  deranging  its 
architectural  proportions,  and  as  to  running,  I  once  saw  our 
Tatar  make  an  attempt  at  that  laborious  exercise,  in  order  to 
pick  up  a  partridge  which  Methley  had  winged  with  a  pistol- 
shot,  and  really  the  attempt  was  one  of  the  funniest  misdirec- 
tions of  human  energy  that  I  ever  beheld.  It  used  to  be  said, 
that  a  good  man,  struggling  with  adversity,  was  a  spectacle 
worthy  of  the  gods : — a  Tatar  attempting  to  run  would  have  been 
a  sight  worthy  of  you.  But  put  him  in  his  stirrups,  and  then  is 
the  Tatar  himself  again  :  there  you  see  him  at  his  ease;  reposing 
in  the  tranquillity  of  that  true  home  (the  home  of  his  ancestors), 
which  the  saddle  seems  to  afford  him,  and  drawing  from  his  pipe 
the  calm  pleasures  of  his  "own  fireside,"  or  else  dashing  sudden 
over  the  earth,  as  though  for  a  moment  he  were  borne  by  the  steed 
of  a  Turkman  chief,  with  the  plains  of  central  Asia  before  him. 
It  was  not  till  his  subordinates  had  nearly  completed  their  pre- 
parations for  their  march  that  our  Tatar,  "  commanding  the 
forces,"  arrived ;  he  came  sleek,  and  fresh  from  the  bath  (for 
so  is  the  custom  of  the  Ottomans  when  they  start  upon  a  jour- 
ney), and  was  carefully  accoutred  at  every  point.  From  his 
thigh  to  his  throat  he  was  loaded  with  arms  and  other  implements 
of  a  campaigning  life.  There  is  no  scarcity  of  water  along  the 
whole  road,  from  Belgrade  to  Stamboul,  but  the  habits  of  our 
Tatar  were  formed  by  his  ancestors,  and  not  by  himself,  so  he 
took  good  care  to  see  that  his  leather  water-flask  was  amply 
charged  and  properly  strapped  to  the  saddle,  along  with  his 
blessed  tchibouque.  And  now  at  last,  he  has  cursed  the  Surid- 
gees,  in  all  proper  figures  of  speech,  and  is  ready  for  a  ride  of  a 
thousand  miles,  but  before  he  comforts  his  soul  in  the  marble 
baths  of  Stamboul,  he  will  be  another  and  a  smaller  man — his 
sense  of  responsibility,  his  too  strict  abstemiousness,  and  his  rest- 
less energy,  disdainful  of  sleep,  will  have  worn  him  down  to  a 
fraction  of  the  sleek  Moostapha,  that  now  leads  out  our  party 
from  the  gates  of  Belgrade. 

The  Suridgees  are  the  fellows  employed  to  lead  the  baggage 
horses.  They  are  most  of  them  Gipsies.  Poor  devils  !  their  lot 
is  an  unhappy  one — they  are  the  last  of  the  human  race,  and  all 


CHAP,  ii.]   JOURNEY— BELGRADE  TO  CONSTANTINOPLE.        13 

the  sins  of  their  superiors  (including  the  horses)  can  safely  be 
visited  on  them.  But  the  wretched  look  often  more  picturesque 
than  their  betters,  and  though  all  the  world  look  down  upon  these 
poor  Suridgees,  their  tawny  skins,  and  their  grisly  beards,  will 
gain  them  honorable  standing  in  the  foreground  of  a  landscape. 
We  had  a  couple  of  these  fellows  with  us,  each  leading  a  bag- 
gage horse,  to  the  tail  of  which  last,  another  baggage  horse  was 
attached.  There  was  a  world  of  trouble  in  persuading  the  stiff 
angular  portmanteaus  of  Europe  to  adapt  themselves  to  their  new 
condition,  and  sit  quietly  on  pack-saddles,  but  all  was  right  at 
last,  and  it  gladdened  my  eyes  to  see  our  little  troop  file  off 
through  the  winding  lanes  of  the  city,  and  show  down  brightly 
in  the  plain  beneath ;  the  one  of  our  party  that  seemed  to  be 
most  out  of  keeping  with  the  rest  of  the  scene,  was  Methley's 
Yorkshire  servant,  who  rode  doggedly  on  in  his  pantry  jacket, 
looking  out  for  "gentlemen's  seats." 

Methley  and  I  had  English  saddles,  but  I  think  we  should  have 
done  just  as  well  ( I  should  certainly  have  seen  more  of  the 
country),  if  we  had  adopted  saddles  like  that  of  our  Tatar,  who 
towered  so  loftily  over  the  scraggy  little  beast  that  carried  him. 
In  taking  thought  for  the  East,  whilst  in  England,  I  had  made 
one  capital  hit  which  you  must  not  forget — I  had  brought  with 
me  a  pair  of  common  spurs,  which  were  a  great  comfort  to  me 
throughout  my  travels  by  keeping  up  the  cheerfulness  of  the 
many  unhappy  nags  which  I  had  to  bestride  ;  the  angle  of  the 
oriental  stirrup  is  a  very  poor  substitute  for  spurs. 

The  Ottoman  horseman,  raised  by  his  saddle  to  a  great  height 
above  the  humble  level  of  the  back  which  he  bestrides,  and 
using  an  awfully  sharp  bit,  is  able  to  lift  the  crest  of  his  nag, 
and  force  him  into  a  strangely  fast  amble,  which  is  the  ortho- 
dox pace  for  the  journey  ;  my  comrade  and  I  thought  it  a  bore 
to  be  followed  by  our  attendants  for  a  thousand  miles,  and  we 
generally,  therefore,  did  duty  as  the  rear-guard  of  our  "  grand 
army  ;"  we  used  to  walk  our  horses  till  the  party  in  front  had 
got  into  the  distance,  and  then  retrieve  the  lost  ground  by  a 
gallop. 

We  had  ridden  on  for  some  two  or  three  hours — the  stir  and 
bustle  of  our  commencing  journey  had  ceased — the  liveliness  of 


14  EOTHEN.  [CHAP.  n. 

our  little  troop  had  worn  off  with  the  declining  day,  and  the 
night  closed  in  as  we  entered  the  Great  Servian  forest,  through 
which  our  road  was  to  last  for  more  than  a  hundred  miles. 
Endless,  and  endless  now  on  either  side,  the  tall  oaks  closed  in 
their  ranks,  and  stood  gloomily  lowering  over  us,  as  grim  as  an 
army  of  giants  with  a  thousand  years'  pay  in  arrear.  One 
strived  with  listening  ear  to  catch  some  tidings  of  that  Forest 
World  within — some  stirring  of  beasts,  some  night  bird's  scream, 
but  all  was  quite  hushed,  except  the  voice  of  the  cicalas  that 
peopled  every  bough,  and  filled  the  depths  of  the  forest  through, 
and  through,  with  one  same  hum  everlasting — more  stilling  than 
very  silence. 

At  first  our  way  was  in  darkness,  but  after  a  while  the  moon 
got  up  and  touched  the  glittering  arms  and  tawny  faces  of  our 
men  with  light  so  pale  and  mystic,  that  the  watchful  Tatar  felt 
bound  to  look  out  for  Demons,  and  take  proper  means  for  keep- 
ing them  off;  he  immediately  determined  that  the  duty  of  fright- 
ening away  our  ghostly  enemies  (like  every  other  troublesome 
work),  should  fall  upon  the  poor  Suridgees,  who  accordingly 
lifted  up  their  voices,  and  burst  upon  the  dreadful  stillness  of 
the  forest  with  shrieks  and  dismal  howls.  These  precautions 
were  kept  up  incessantly,  and  were  followed  by  the  most  com- 
plete success,  for  not  one  demon  came  near  us. 

Long  before  midnight,  we  reached  the  hamlet  in  which  we 
were  to  rest  for  the  night; 'it  was  made  up  of  about  a  dozen 
clay  huts,  standing  upon  a  small  tract  of  ground  which  had 
been  conquered  from  the  forest.  The  peasants  that  lived  there 
spoke  a  Slavonic  dialect,  and  Mysseri's  knowledge  of  the  Rus- 
sian tongue  enabled  him  to  talk  with  them  freely.  We  soon 
took  up  our  quarters  in  a  square  room,  with  white  walls,  and  an 
earthen  floor,  quite  bare  of  furniture  and  utterly  void  of  women. 
They  told  us,  however,  that  these  Servian  villagers  were  very 
well  off,  but  that  they  were  careful  to  conceal  their  wealth,  as 
well  as  their  wives. 

The  burthens  unstrapped  from  the  packsaddles  very  quickly 
furnished  our  den  ;  a  couple  of  quilts  spread  upon  the  floor, 
with  a  carpet  bag  at  the  head  of  each,  became  capital  sofas — 
portmanteaus,  and  hat  boxes,  and  writing  cases,  and  books,  and 


CHAP,  ii.]   JOURNEY— BELGRADE  TO  CONSTANTINOPLE.        15 

maps,  and  gleaming  arms,  were  soon  strewed  around  us  in 
pleasant  confusion ;  Mysseri's  canteen,  too,  began  to  yield  up  its 
treasures,  but  we  relied  upon  finding  some  provisions  in  the  vil- 
lage. At  first  the  natives  declared  that  their  hens  were  mere 
old  maids,  and  all  their  cows  unmarried,  but  our  Tatar  swore 
such  a  grand,  sonorous  oath,  and  fingered  the  hilt  of  his 
yataghan  with  such  persuasive  touch,  that  the  land  soon  flowed 
with  milk,  and  mountains  of  eggs  arose. 

And  soon  there  was  tea  before  us,  with  all  its  unspeakable 
fragrance,  and  as  we  reclined  on  the  floor,  we  found  that  a  port- 
manteau was  just  the  right  height  for  a  table  ;  the  duty  of  can- 
dlesticks was  ably  performed  by  a  couple  of  intelligent  natives ; 
the  rest  of  them  stood  by  the  open  door- way  at  the  lower  end  of 
the  room,  and  watched  our  banqueting  with  deep  and  serious 
attention. 

The  first  night  of  your  first  campaign  (though  you  be  but  a 
mere  peaceful  campaigner)  is  a  glorious  time  in  your  life.  It 
is  so  sweet  to  find  oneself  free  from  the  stale  civilisation  of 
Europe  !  Oh  my  dear  ally  !  when  first  you  spread  your  car- 
pet in  the  midst  of  these  eastern  scenes,  do  think  for  a  moment 
of  those  your  fellow  creatures,  that  dwell  in  squares,  and 
streets,  and  even  (for  such  is  the  fate  of  many  !)  in  actual  coun- 
try houses  ;  think  of  the  people  that  are  "  presenting  their  com- 
pliments," and  "requesting  the  honor,"  and  "  much  regretting," 
— of  those  that  are  pinioned  at  dinner  tables,  or  stuck  up  in  ball- 
rooms, or  cruelly  planted  in  pews — •a.y,  think  of  these,  and  so 
remembering  how  many  poor  devils  are  living  in  a  state  of  utter 
respectability,  you  will  glory  the  more  in  your  own  delightful 
escape. 

I  am  bound  to  confess,  however,  that  with  all  its  charms,  a 
mud  floor  (like  a  mercenary  match)  does  certainly  promote 
early  rising.  Long  before  daybreak  we  were  up,  and  had 
breakfasted  ;  after  this  there  was  nearly  a  whole  tedious  hour 
to  endure,  whilst  the  horses  were  laden  by  torch-light ;  but  this 
had  an  end,  and  at  last  we  went  on  once  more.  Cloaked,  and 
sombre,  at  first  we  made  our  sullen  way  through  the  darkness, 
with  scarcely  one  barter  of  words,  but  soon  the  genial  morning 
burst  over  us,  and  stirred  the  blood  so  gladly  through  our  veins, 


EOTHEN.  [CHAP.  ii. 


that  the  very  Suridgees,  with  all  their  troubles,  could  now  look 
up  for  an  instant,  and  almost  believe  in  the  temporary  goodness 
of  God. 

The  actual  movement  from  one  place  to  another,  in  Europe- 
anized  countries,  is  a  process  so  temporary — it  occupies,  I 
mean,  so  small  a  portion  of  the  traveller's  entire  time,  that  his 
mind  remains  unsettled,  so  long  as  the  wheels  are  going ;  he 
is  alive  enough  to  the  external  objects  of  interest,  which  the 
route  may  afford,  and  to  the  crowding-^eas  which  are  often 
invited  by  the  excitement  of  a  changing  scene,  but  he  is  still 
conscious  of  being  in  a  provisional  state,  and  his  mind  is  con- 
stantly recurring  to  the  expected  end  of  his  journey  ;  his  ordi- 
nary ways  of  thought  have  been  interrupted,  and  before  any 
new  mental  habits  can  be  formed  he  is  quietly  fixed  in  his 
hotel.  It  will  be  otherwise  with  you  when  you  journey  in  the  East. 
Day  after  day,  perhaps  week  after  week,  and  month  after  month, 
your  foot  is  in  the  stirrup.  To  taste  the  cold  breath  of  the  ear- 
liest morn,  and  to  lead  or  follow  your  bright  cavalcade  till  sun- 
set through  forests,  and  mountain  passes,  through  valleys,  and 
desolate  plains,  all  this  becomes  your  MODE  OF  LIFE,  and 
you  ride,  eat,  drink,  and  curse  the  mosquitoes,  as  systemati- 
cally as  your  friends  in  England  eat,  drink,  and  sleep.  If  you 
are  wise,  you  will  not  look  upon  the  long  period  of  time  thus 
occupied  by  your  journeys  as  the  mere  gu^fs  which  divide  you 
from  the  place  to  which  you  are  going,  but  rather  as  most  rare 
and  beautiful  portions  of  your  life,  from  which  may  come  tem- 
per and  strength.  Once  feel  this,  and  you  will  soon  grow 
happy  and  contented  in  your  saddle  home.  As  for  me  and  my 
comrade,  in  this  part  of  our  journey  we  often  forgot  Stamboul, 
forgot  all  the  Ottoman  Empire,  and  only  remembered  old  times. 
We  went  back,  loitering  on  the  banks  of  Thames — not  grim  old 
Thames  of  "  after  life  "  that  washes  the  Parliament  House,  and 
drowns  despairing  girls, — but  Thames  the  "  old  Eton  fellow  " 
that  wrestled  with  us  in  our  boyhood  till  he  taught  us  to  be 
stronger  than  he.  We  bullied  Keate,  and  scoffed  at  Larrey 
Miller,  and  Okes ;  we  rode  along  loudly  laughing,  and  talked 
to  the  grave  Servian  forest,  as  though  it  were  the  "  Brocas 
clump."  Our  pace  was  commonly  very  slow,  for  the  baggage 


CHAP,  ii.]   JOURNEY— BELGRADE  TO  CONSTANTINOPLE.        17 

horses  served  us  for  a  drag,  and  kept  us  to  a  rate  of  little  more 
than  five  miles  in  the  hour,  but  now  and  then,  and  chiefly  at 
night,  a  spirit  of  movement  would  suddenly  animate  the  whole 
party ;  the  baggage  horses  would  be  teazed  into  a  gallop,  and 
when  once  this  was  done,  there  would  be  such  a  banging  of 
portmanteaus,  and  such  convulsions  of  carpet  bags  upon  their 
panting  sides,  and  the  Suridgees  would  follow  them  up  with 
such  a  hurricane  of  blows,  and  screams,  and  curses,  that  stop- 
ping or  relaxing  was  scarcely  possible  ;  then  the  rest  of  us 
would  put  our  horses  into  a  gallop,  and  so  all  shouting  cheerily, 
would  hunt,  and  drive  the  sumpter  beasts  like  a  flock  of  goats, 
up  hill  and  down  dale,  right  on  to  the  end  of  their  journey. 

The  distances  at  which  we  got  relays  of  horses  varied  greatly  ; 
some  were  not  more  than  fifteen  or  twenty  miles,  but  twice,  I 
think,  we  performed  a  whole  day's  journey  of  more  than  sixty 
miles  with  the  same  beasts. 

When,  at  last,  we  came  out  from  the  forest,  our  road  lay 
through  scenes  like  those  of  an  English  park.  The  green 
sward  unfenced,  and  left  to  the  free  pasture  of  cattle,  was  dotted 
with  groups  of  stately  trees,  and  here  and  there  darkened  over 
with  larger  masses  of  wood,  that  seemed  gathered  together  for 
bounding  the  domain,  and  shutting  out  some  infernal  fellow- 
creature  in  the  shape  of  a  new-made  squire  :  in  one  or  two  spots 
the  hanging  copses  looked  down  upon  a  lawn  below  with  such 
sheltering  mien,  that  seeing  the  like  in  England,  you  would 
have  been  tempted  almost  to  ask  the  name  of  the  spendthrift,  or 
the  madman  who  had  dared  to  pull  down  the  old  hall. 

There  are  few  countries  less  infested  by  "  lions"  than  the 
provinces  on  this  part  of  your  route ;  you  are  not  called  upon 
"to  drop  a  tear"  over  the  tomb  of  "the  once  brilliant"  any- 
body, or  to  pay  your  "  tribute  of  respect "  to  anything  dea'd,  or 
alive ;  there  are  no  Servian,  or  Bulgarian  Litterateurs  with 
whom  it  would  be  positively  disgraceful  not  to  form  an  acquaint- 
ance ;  you  have  no  staring,  no  praising  to  get  through ;  the 
only  public  building  of  any  interest  which  lies  on  the  road  is  of 
modern  date,  but  is  said  to  be  a  good  specimen  of  oriental 
architecture ;  it  is  of  a  pyramidical  shape,  and  is  made  up  of 
thirty  thousand  skulls  which  were  contributed  by  the  rebellious 


18  EOTHEN.  [CHAP.  n. 

Servians  in  the  early  part  (I  believe)  of  this  century  ;  I  am  not 
at  all  sure  of  my  date,  but  I  fancy  it  was  in  the  year  1806  that 
the  first  skull  was  laid.  I  am  ashamed  to  say,  that  in  the  dark- 
ness of  the  early  morning,  we  unknowingly  went  by  the 
neighborhood  of  this  triumph  of  art,  and  so  basely  got  off  from 
admiring  "the  simple  grandeur  of  the  architect's  conception," 
and  "  the  exquisite  beauty  of  the  fretwork." 

There  being  no  "  lions,"  we  ought  at  least  to  have  met  with 
a  few  perils,  but  there  were  no  women  to  attack  our  peace  (they 
were  all  wrapt  up,  or  locked  in),  and  as  for  robbers,  the  only 
robbers  we  saw  anything  of  had  been  long  since  dead  and  gone  ; 
the  poor  fellows  had  been  impaled  upon  high  poles,  and  so 
propped  up  by  the  transverse  spokes  beneath  them,  that  their 
skeletons,  clothed  with  some  white,  wax-like  remains  of  flesh, 
still  sat  up  lolling  in  the  sunshine,  and  listlessly  stared  without 
eyes. 

One  day  it  seemed  to  me  that  our  path  was  a  little  more 
rugged,  and  less  level  than  usual,  and  I  found  that  I  was  deserv- 
ing for  myself  the  title  of  Sabalkansky,  or  "  Transcender  of  the 
Balcan."  The  truth  is,  that,  as  a  military  barrier,  the  Balcan 
is  a  fabulous  mountain ;  such  seems  to  be  the  view  of  Major 
Keppell,  who  looked  on  it  towards  the  East  with  the  eye  of  a 
soldier,  and  certainly  in  the  Sophia  pass,  which  I  followed,  there 
is  no  narrow  defile,  and  no  ascent  sufficiently  difficult  to  stop,  or 
delay  for  long  time,  a  train  of  siege  artillery. 

Before  we  reached  Adrianople,  Methley  had  been  seized  with 
we  knew  not  what  ailment,  and  when  we  had  taken  up  our 
quarters  in  the  city,  he  was  cast  to  the  very  earth  by  sickness. 
Adrianople  enjoyed  an  English  Consul,  and  I  felt  sure  that,  in 
Eastern  phrase,  his  house  would  cease  to  be  his  houser  and 
would  become  the  house  of  my  sick  comrade ;  I  should  have 
judged  rightly  under  ordinary  circumstances,  but  the  levelling 
plague  was  abroad,  and  the  dread  of  it  had  dominion  over  the 
consular  mind.  So  now  (whether  dying  or  not,  one  could 
hardly  tell),  upon  a  quilt  stretched  out  along  the  floor,  there  lay 
the  best  hope  of  an  ancient  line,  without  the  material  aids  to 
comfort  of  even  the  humblest  sort,  and  (sad  to  say)  without  the 
consolation  of  a  friend,  or  even  a  comrade  worth  having.  I 


CHAP,  ii.]   JOURNEY— BELGRADE  TO  CONSTANTINOPLE.        19 

have  a  notion  that  tenderness  and  pity  are  affections  occasioned 
in  some  measure  by  living  within  doors ;  certainly,  at  the  time 
I  speak  of,  the  open  air  life  which  I  had  been  leading,  or  the 
wayfaring  hardships  of  the  journey  had  so  strangely  blunted 
me,  that  I  felt  intolerant  of  illness,  and  looked  down  upon  my 
companion  as  if  the  poor  fellow  in  falling  ill  had  betrayed  a 
decided  want  of  spirit !  I  entertained,  too,  a  most  absurd  idea — 
an  idea  that  his  illness  was  partly  affected.  You  see  that  I  have 
made  a  confession :  this  I  hope — that  I  may  always  hereafter 
look  charitably  upon  the  hard,  savage  acts  of  peasants,  and  the 
cruelties  of  a  "  brutal  "  soldiery.  God  knows  that  I  strived  to 
melt  myself  into  common  charity,  and  to  put  on  a  gentleness 
which  I  could  not  feel,  but  this  attempt  did  not  cheat  the  keen- 
ness of  the  sufferer ;  he  could  not  have  felt  the  less  deserted, 
because  that  I  was  with  him. 

We  called  to  aid  a  solemn  Armenian  (I  think  he  was),  half 
soothsayer,  half  hakim,  or  doctor,  who,  all  the  while  counting 
his  beads,  fixed  his  eyes  steadily  upon  the  patient,  and  then 
suddenly  dealt  him  a  violent  blow  in  the  chest.  Methley  bravely 
dissembled  his  pain,  for  he  fancied  that  the  blow  was  meant  to 
try  whether  or  not  the  plague  were  on  him. 

Here  was  really  a  sad  embarrassment — no  bed — nothing  to 
offer  the  invalid  in  the  shape  of  food,  save  a  piece  of  thin,  tough, 
flexible,  drab-colored  cloth,  made  of  flour  and  mill-stones  in 
equal  proportions,  and  called  by  the  name  of  "bread;"  then 
the  patient,  of  course,  had  no  "  confidence  in  his  medical  man," 
and  on  the  whole,  the  best  chance  of  saving  my  comrade  seemed 
to  be  by  taking  him  out  of  the  reach  of  his  doctor,  and  bearing 
him  away  to  the  neighborhood  of  some  more  genial  consul. 
But  how  was  this  to  be  done  ?  Methley  was  much  too  ill  to  be 
kept  in  the  saddle,  and  wheel-carriages,  as  means  of  travelling, 
were  unknown.  There  is,  however,  such  a  thing  as  an  "  Ara- 
ba,"  a  vehicle  drawn  by  oxen,  in  which  the  wives  of  a  rich  man 
are  sometimes  dragged  four  or  five  miles  over  the  grass  by  way 
of  recreation.  The  carriage  is  rudely  framed,  but  you  recog- 
nize in  the  simple  grandeur  of  its  design  a  likeness  to  things 
majestic ;  in  short,  if  your  carpenter's  son  were  to  make  a 
<'  Lord  Mayor's  coach  "  for  little  Amy,  he  would  build  a  carriage 


20  EOTHEN.  [CHAP.  n. 

very  much  in  the  style  of  a  Turkish  Araba.  No  one  had  ever 
heard  of  horses  being  used  for  drawing  a  carriage  in  this  part 
of  the  world,  but  Necessity  is  the  mother  of  Innovation,  as  well 
as  of  Invention.  I  was  fully  justified,  I  think,  in  arguing  that 
there  were  numerous  instances  of  horses  being  used  for  that 
purpose  in  our  own  country — that  the  laws  of  nature  are  uniform 
in  their  operation  over  all  the  world  (except  Ireland) — that  that 
which  was  true  in  Piccadilly,  must  be  true  in  Adrianople — that 
the  matter  could  not  fairly  be  treated  as  an  ecclesiastical  ques- 
tion, for  that  the  circumstance  of  Methley's  going  on  to  Stam- 
boul  in  an  Araba  drawn  by  horses,  when  calmly  and  dispassion- 
ately considered,  would  appear  to  be  perfectly  consistent  with 
the  maintenance  of  the  Mahometan  religion,  as  by  law  esta- 
blished. Thus  poor,  dear,  patient  Reason  would  have  fought 
her  slow  battle  against  Asiatic  prejudice,  and  I  am  convinced 
that  she  would  have  established  the  possibility  (and  perhaps, 
even  the  propriety)  of  harnessing  horses  in  a  hundred  and  fifty 
years ;  but  in  the  meantime  Mysseri,  well  seconded  by  our 
Tatar,  put  a  very  quick  end  to  the  controversy,  by  having  the 
horses  put  to. 

It  was  a  sore  thing  for  me  to  see  my  poor  comrade  brought  to 
.this,  for  young  though  he  was,  he  was  a  veteran  in  travel ; 
when  scarcely  yet  of  age,  he  had  invaded  India  from  the  fron- 
tiers of  Russia,  and  that  so  swiftly,  that  measuring  by  the  time 
of  his  flight,  the  broad  dominions  of  the  King  of  Kings  were 
shrivelled  up  to  a  Dukedom,  and  now  poor  fellow,  he  was  to  be 
poked  into  an  Araba,  like  a  Georgian  girl !  He  suffered  greatly, 
for  there  were  no  springs  for  the  carriage,  and  no  road  for  the 
wheels,  and  so  the  concern  jolted  on  over  the  open  country,  with 
such  twists,  and  jerks,  and  jumps,  as  might  almost  dislocate  the 
supple  tongue  of  Satan. 

All  day  the  patient  kept  himself  shut  up  within  the  lattice- 
work of  the  Araba,  and  I  could  hardly  know  how  he  was  faring 
until  the  end  of  the  day's  journey,  when  I  found  that  he  was  not 
worse,  and  was  buoyed  up  with  the  hope  of  some  day  reaching 
Constantinople . 

I  was  always  conning  over  my  maps,  and  fancied  that  I  knew 
pretty  well  my  line,  but  after  Adrianople  I  had  made  more 


CHAP,  ii.]  JOURNEY— BELGRADE  TO  CONSTANTINOPLE.    21 

southing  than  I  knew  for,  and  it  was  with  unbelieving  wonder, 
and  delight,  that  I  came  suddenly  upon  the  shore  of  the  sea ;  a 
little  while,  and  its  gentle  billows  were  flowing  beneath  the 
hoofs  of  my  beast,  but  the  hearing  of  the  ripple  was  not  enough 
communion, — and  the  seeing  of  the  blue  Propontis  was  not  to 
know  and  possess  it — I  must  needs  plunge  into  its  depths,  and 
quench  my  longing  love  in  the  palpable  waves ;  and  so  when 
old  Moostapha  (defender  against  demons)  looked  round  for  his 
charge,  he  saw  with  horror  and  dismay,  that  he  for  whose  life 
his  own  life  stood  pledged,  was  possessed  of  some  devil  who  had 
driven  him  down  into  the  sea — that  the  rider  and  the  steed  had 
vanished  from  earth,  and  that  out  among  the  waves  was  the 
gasping  crest  of  a  post  horse,  and  the  pale  head  of  the  English- 
man moving  upon  the  face  of  the  waters. 

We  started  very  early  indeed,  on  the  last  day  of  our  journey, 
and  from  the  moment  of  being  off,  until  we  gained  the  shelter  of 
the  imperial  walls,  we  were  struggling  face  to  face  with  an  icy 
storm  that  swept  right  down  from  the  steppes  of  Tartary,  keen, 
fierce,  and  steady  as  a  northern  conqueror.  Methley's  servant, 
who  was  the  greatest  sufferer,  kept  his  saddle  until  we  reached 
Stamboul,  but  was  then  found  to  be  quite  benumbed  in  limbs, 
and  his  brain  was  so  much  affected,  that  when  he  was  lifted  from 
his  horse,  he  fell  away  in  a  state  of  unconsciousness,  the  first 
stage  of  a  dangerous  fever. 

Methley,  in  his  Araba,  had  been  sheltered  from  the  storm,  but 
he  was  sadly  ill.  I  myself  bore  up  capitally  for  a  delicate  per- 
son,  but  I  was  so  well  watered,  and  the  blood  of  my  veins  had 
shrunk  away  so  utterly  from  the  chilling  touch  of  the  blast,  that 
I  must  have  looked  more  fit  for  a  watery  grave,  than  for  the  city 
of  the  Prince,  whom  men  call  "  Brother  of  the  Sun." 

Our  Tatar,  worn  down  by  care  and  toil,  and  carrying  seven 
heavens  full  of  water,  in  his  manifold  jackets  and  shawls,  was 
a  mere  weak  and  vapid  dilution  of  the  sleek  Moostapha,  who 
scarce  more  than  one  fortnight  before  came  out  like  a  bride- 
groom from  his  chamber,  to  take  the  command  of  our  party. 

Mysseri  seemed  somewhat  over-wearied,  but  he  had  lost  none 
of  his  strangely  quiet  energy ;  he  wore  a  grave  look,  however, 
for  he  now  had  learnt  that  the  plague  was  prevailing  at  Constan- 


EOTHEN.  [CHAP.  n. 


tinople,  and  he  was  fearing  that  our  two  sick  men,  and  the 
miserable  looks  of  our  whole  party,  might  make  us  unwelcome 
at  Pera. 

Our  poor,  dear  portmanteaus,  whose  sharp,  angular  forms  had 
rebelled  so  rudely  against  the  pack-saddles,  were  now  reduced  to 
soft,  pulpy  substances,  and  the  things  which  were  in  them  could 
plainly  be  of  no  immediate  use  to  anybody  but  a  merman,  or  a 
river-god ;  the  carpet  bags  seemed  to  contain  nothing  but  mere 
solutions  of  coats  and  boots,  escaping  drop  by  drop. 

We  crossed  the  Golden  Horn  in  a  caique  ;  as  soon  as  we  had 
landed,  some  wo-begone  looking  fellows  were  got  together,  and 
laden  with  our  baggage.  Then,  on  we  went,  dripping,  and 
sloshing,  and  looking  very  like  men  that  had  been  turned  back 
by  the  Royal  Humane  Society,  as  being  incurably  drowned. 
Supporting  our  sick,  we  climbed -up  shelving  steps,  and  threaded 
many  windings,  and  at  last  came  up  into  the  main  street  of  Pera, 
humbly  hoping  that  we  might  not  be  judged  guilty  of  plague, 
and  so  be  cast  back  with  horror  from  the  doors  of  the  shuddering 
Christians. 

Such  was  the  condition  of  our  party,  which  fifteen  days  before 
had  filed  away  so  gaily  from  the  gates  of  Belgrade.  A  couple 
of  fevers,  and  a  north-easterly  storm,  had  thoroughly  spoiled  our 
looks. 

The  interest  of  Mysseri  with  the  house  of  Giuseppeni  was  too 
powerful  to  be  denied,  and  at  once,  though  not  without  fear  and 
trembling,  we  were  admitted  as  guests. 


CHAP,  m.]  CONSTANTINOPLE.  23 


CHAPTER  III. 

Constantinople. 

EVEN  if  we  don't  take  a  part  in  the  chaunt  about  "  Mosques  and 
Minarets,"  we  can  still  yield  praises  to  Stamboul.  We  can 
chaunt  about  the  harbor ;  we  can  say  and  sing,  that  nowhere 
else  does  the  sea  come  so  home  to  a  city ;  there  are  no  pebbly 
shores — no  sand  bars — no  slimy  river-beds — no  black  canals — 
no  locks  nor  docks  to  divide  the  very  heart  of  the  place  from  the 
deep  waters ;  if,  being  in  the  noisiest  mart  of  Stamboul,  you 
would  stroll  to  the  quiet  side  of  the  way  amidst  those  Cypresses 
opposite,  you  will  cross  the  fathomless  Bosphorus ;  if  you  would 
go  from  your  hotel  to  the  Bazaars,  you  must  go  by  the  bright, 
blue  pathway  of  the  Golden  Horn,  that  can  carry  a  thousand  sail 
of  the  line.  You  are  accustomed  to  the  Gondolas  that  glide 
among  the  palaces  of  St.  Mark,  but  here  at  Stamboul  it  is  a 
hundred  and  twenty  gun  ship  that  meets  you  in  the  street. 
Venice  strains  out  from  the  steadfast  land,  and  in  old  times  would 
send  forth  the  Chief  of  the  State  to  woo,  and  wed  the  reluctant 
sea;  but  the  stormy  bride  of  the  Doge  is  the  bowing  slave  of  the 
Sultan — she  comes  to  his  feet  with  the  treasures  of  the  world — 
she  bears  him  from  palace  to  palace — by  some  unfailing  witch- 
craft, she  entices  the  breezes  to  follow  her,*  and  fan  the  pale  cheek 
of  her  lord — she  lifts  his  armed  navies  to  the  very  gates  of  his 
garden — she  watches  the  walls  of  his  Serail — she  stifles  the  in- 
trigues of  his  Ministers — she  quiets  the  scandals  of  his  Court — 
she  extinguishes  his  rivals,  and  hushes  his  naughty  wives  all 
one  by  one.  So  vast  are  the  wonders  of  the  Deep ! 

All  the  while  that  I  stayed  at  Constantinople,  the  Plague  was 
prevailing,  but  not  with  any  degree  of  violence ;  its  presence, 

*  There  is  almost  always  a  breeze,  either  from  the  Marmora,  or  from 
the  Black  Sea,  that  passes  along  through  the  Bosphorus. 


24  EOTHEN.  [CHAP.  in. 

however,  lent  a  mysterious,  and  exciting,  though  not  very  plea- 
sant interest  to  my  first  knowledge  of  a  great  Oriental  city ;  it 
gave  tone  and  color  to  all  I  saw,  and  all  I  felt — a  tone,  and  a 
color  sombre  enough,  but  true,  and  well  befitting  the  dreary 
monuments  of  past  power  and  splendor.  With  all  that  is  most 
truly  oriental  in  its  character,  the  Plague  is  associated ;  it  dwells 
with  the  faithful  in  the  holiest  quarters  of  their  city  :  the  coats 
and  the  hats  of  Pera  are  held  to  be  nearly  as  innocent  of  infec- 
tion, as  they  are  ugly  in  shape  and  fashion ;  but  the  rich  furs, 
and  the  costly  shawls,  the  broidered  slippers,  and  the  gold-laden 
saddle-cloths — the  fragrance  of  burning  aloes,  and  the  rich 
aroma  of  patchouli — these  are  the  signs  which  mark  the  familiar 
home  of  Plague.  You  go  out  from  your  living  London — the 
centre  of  the  greatest  and  strongest  among  all  earthly  dominions 
— you  go  out  thence,  and  travel  on  to  the  capital  of  an  Eastern 
Prince — you  find  but  a  waning  power,  and  a  faded  splendor, 
that  inclines  you  to  laugh  and  mock ;  but  let  the  infernal  Angel 
of  Plague  be  at  hand,  and  he,  more  mighty  than  armies — more 
terrible  than  Suleyman  in  his  glory,  can  restore  such  pomp  and 
majesty  to  the  weakness  of  the  Imperial  walls,  that  if,  when  HE 
is  there,  you  must  still  go  prying  amongst  the  shades  of  this  dead 
Empire,  at  least  you  will  tread  the  path  with  seemly  reverence 
and  awe. 

It  is  the  firm  faith  of  almost  all  the  Europeans  living  in  the  East, 
that  Plague  is  conveyed  by  the  touch  of  infected  substances,  and 
that  the  deadly  atoms  especially  lurk  in  all  kinds  of  clothes  and 
furs ;  it  is  held  safer  to  breathe  the  same  air  with  a  man  sick  of  the 
Plague,  and  even  to  come  in  contact  with  his  skin,  than  to  be 
touched  by  the  smallest  particle  of  woollen,  or  of  thread,  which 
may  have  been  within  the  reach  of  possible  infection.  If  this 
notion  be  correct,  the  spread  of  the  malady  must  be  materially 
aided  by  the  observance  of  a  custom  which  prevails  amongst  the 
people  of  Stamboul ;  when  an  Osmanlee  dies,  it  is  usual  to  cut 
up  one  of  his  dresses,  and  to  send  a  small  piece  of  it  to  each  of 
his  friends,  as  a  memorial  of  the  departed.  A  fatal  present  is 
this,  according  to  the  opinion  of  the  Franks,  for  it  too  often 
forces  the  living  not  merely  to  remember  the  dead  man,  but  to 
follow  and  bear  him  company. 


CHAP,  in.]  CONSTANTINOPLE. 

The  Europeans  during  the  prevalence  of  the  Plague,  if  they 
are  forced  to  venture  into  the  streets,  will  carefully  avoid  the 
touch  of  every  human  being  whom  they  pass ;  their  conduct  in 
this  respect  shows  them  strongly  in  contrast  with  the  "  true 
believers ;"  the  Moslem  stalks  on  serenely,  as  though  he  were 
under  the  eye  of  his  God,  and  were  "  equal  to  either  fate  ;"  the 
Franks  go  crouching,  and  slinking  from  death,  and  some  (those 
chiefly  of  French  extraction)  will  fondly  strive -to  fence  out 
Destiny  with  shining  capes  of  oilskin  ! 

For  some  time  you  may  manage  by  great  care  to  thread  your 
way  through  the  streets  of  Stamboul,  without  incurring  contact, 
for  the  Turks,  though  scornful  of  the  terrors  felt  by  the  Franks, 
are  generally  very  courteous  in  yielding  to  that  which  they 
hold  to  be  a  useless  and  impious  precaution,  and  will  let  you 
pass  safe,  if  they  can.  It  is  impossible,  however,  that  your  im- 
munity can  last  for  any  length  of  time,  if  you  move  about  much 
through  the  narrow  streets  and  lanes  of  a  crowded  city. 

As  for  me,  I  soon  got  "  compromised."  After  one  day  of 
rest,  the  prayers  of  my  hostess  began  to  lose  their  power  of 
keeping  me  from  the  pestilent  side  of  the  Golden  Horn.  Faith- 
fully promising  to  shun  the  touch  of  all  imaginable  substances, 
however  enticing,  I  set  off  very  cautiously,  and  held  my  way 
uncompromised,  till  I  reached  the  water's  edge :  but  during  the 
moment  that  I  was  waiting  for  my  caique,  some  rueful-looking 
fellows  came  rapidly  shambling  down  the  steps  with  a  plague- 
stricken  corpse,  which  they  were  going  to  bury  amongst  the 
faithful  on  the  other  side  of  the  water.  I  contrived  to  be  so 
much  in  the  way  of  this  brisk  funeral,  that  I  was  not  only 
touched  by  the  men  bearing  the  body,  but  also,  I  believe,  by 
the  foot  of  the  dead  man,  which  was  lolling  out  of  the  bier. 
This  accident  gave  me  such  a  strong  interest  in  denying  the 
soundness  of  the  contagion  theory,  that  I  did  in  fact  deny,  and 
repudiate  it  altogether  ;  and  from  that  time,  acting  upon  my  own 
convenient  view  of  the  matter,  I  went  wherever  I  chose,  without 
taking  any  serious  pains  to  avoid  a  touch.  I  have  now  some 
reason  to  think  that  the  Europeans  may  be  right,  and  that  the 
Plague  may  be  really  conveyed  by  contagion  j  but  whilst  I 
remained  in  the  East,  I  happily  entertained  ideas  more  ap- 


26  EOTHEN.  [CHAP.  in. 

preaching  to  those  of  the  fatalist ;  and  so,  when  I  afterwards 
encountered  the  Plague  in  full  force,  I  was  able  to  live  amongst 
the  dying  with  much  less  anxiety  of  mind,  than  I  should  have 
suffered,  if  I  had  believed  that  every  touch  which  I  met  with, 
was  a  possible  death-stroke. 

And  perhaps  as  you  make  your  difficult  way  through  a  steep 
and  narrow  alley,  which  winds  between  blank  walls,  and  is 
little  frequented  by  passers,  you  meet  one  of  those  coffin-shaped 
bundles  of  white  linen  which  implies  an  Ottoman  lady.  Pain- 
fully struggling  against  the  obstacles  to  progression  which  are 
interposed  by  the  many  folds  of  her  clumsy  drapery,  by  her 
big  mud  boots,  and  especially  by  her  two  pairs  of  slippers,  she 
waddles  along  full  awkwardly  enough,  but  yet  there  is  some- 
thing of  womanly  consciousness  in  the  very  labor  and  effort 
with  which  she  tugs  and  lifts  the  burthen  of  her  charms  ;  she  is 
close  followed  by  her  women  slaves.  Of  her  very  self  you  see 
nothing,  except  the  dark,  luminous  eyes  that  stare  against  your 
face,  and  the  tips  of  the  painted  fingers  depending  like  rose- 
buds from  out  the  blank  bastions  of  the  fortress.  She  turns,  and 
turns  again,  and  carefully  glances  around  her  on  all  sides,  to 
see  that  she  is  safe  from  the  eyes  of  Mussulmans,  and  then  sud- 
denly withdrawing  the  yashmak,*  she  shines  upon  your  heart 
and  soul  with  all  the  pomp  and  might  of  her  beauty.  And  this 
which  so  dizzies  your  brain  is  not  the  light,  changeful  grace, 
which  leaves  you  to  doubt  whether  you  have  fallen  in  love  with 
a  body,  or  only  a  soul ;  it  is  the  beauty  that  dwells  secure  in 
the  perfectness  of  hard,  downright  outlines,  and  in  the  glow  of 
generous  color.  There  is  fire,  though,  too — high  courage,  and 
fire  enough  in  the  untamed  mind,  or  spirit,  or  whatever  it  is, 
which  drives  the  breath  of  pride  through  those  scarcely  parted 
lips. 

You  smile  at  pretty  women — you  turn  pale  before  the  beauty 
that  is  great  enough  to  have  dominion  over  you.  She  sees,  and 
exults  in  your  giddiness  ;  she  sees  and  smiles ;  then  presently, 

*  The  Yashmak,  you  know,  is  not  a  mere  semi-transparent  veil,  but  rather 
a  good  substantial  petticoat  applied  to  the  face  ;  it  thoroughly  conceals  all 
the  features,  except  the  eyes  ;  the  way  of  withdrawing  it  is  by  pulling  it 
down. 


CHAP,  in.]  CONSTANTINOPLE.  27 

with  a  sudden  movement,  she  lays  her  blushing  fingers  upon 
your  arm,  and  cries  out,  "  Yumourdjak  !"  (Plague  !  meaning 
"  there  is  a  present  of  the  Plague  for  you  !")  This  is  her  no- 
tion of  a  witticism :  it  is  a  very  old  piece  of  fun,  no  doubt — quite 
an  oriental  Joe  Miller ;  but  the  Turks  are  fondly  attached,  not 
only  to  the  institutions,  but  also  to  the  jokes  of  their  ancestors  ; 
so,  the  lady's  silvery  laugh  rings  joyously  in  your  ears,  and 
the  mirth  of  her  women  is  boisterous  and  fresh,  as  though  the 
bright  idea  of  giving  the  Plague  to  a  Christian  had  newly  lit 
upon  the  earth. 

Methley  began  to  rally  very  soon  after  we  had  reached  Con- 
stantinople, but  there  seemed  at  first  to  be  no  chance  of  his  re- 
gaining strength  enough  for  travelling  during  the  winter ;  and 
I  determined  to  stay  with  my  comrade,  until  he  had  quite  re- 
covered ;  so  I  got  a  horse,  and  a  pipe  of  tranquillity,  and  took 
a  Turkish  phrase-master.  I  troubled  myself  a  great  deal  with 
the  Turkish  tongue,  and  gained  at  last  some  knowledge  of  its 
structure ;  it  is  enriched,  perhaps  overladen,  with  Persian  and 
Arabic  words,  which  have  been  imported  into  the  language, 
chiefly  for  the  purpose  of  representing  sentiments  and  religious 
dogmas,  and  terms  of  art  and  luxury,  which  were  all  unknown 
to  the  Tartar  ancestors  of  the  present  Osmanlees  ;  but  the  body 
and  spirit  of  the  old  tongue  is  yet  alive,  and  the  smooth  words 
of  the  shop-keeper  at  Constantinople  can  still  carry  understand- 
ing to  the  ears  of  the  untamed  millions  who  rove  over  the  plains 
of  Northern  Asia.  The  structure  of  the  language,  especially 
in  its  more  lengthy  sentences,  is  very  like  to  the  Latin  ;  the 
subject  matters  are  slowly  and  patiently  enumerated,  without 
disclosing  the  purpose  of  the  speaker  until  he  reaches  the  end 
of  his  sentence,  and  then  at  last  there  comes  the  clenching  word, 
which  gives  a  meaning  and  connexion  to  all  that  has  gone 
before.  If  you  listen  at  all  to  speaking  of  this  kind,  your  atten- 
tion, rather  than  be  suffered  to  flag,  must  grow  more  and  more 
lively,  as  the  phrase  marches  on. 

The  Osmanlees  speak  well.  In  countries  civilized  according 
to  the  European  plan,  the  work  of  trying  to  persuade  tribunals 
is  almost  all  performed  by  a  set  of  men,  the  great  body  of  whom 
very  seldom  do  anything  else ;  but  in  Turkey,  this  division  of 


28  EOTHEN.  [CHAP.  in. 

labor  has  never  taken  place,  and  every  man  is  his  own  advocate. 
The  importance  of  the  rhetorical  art  is  immense,  for  a  bad  speech 
may  endanger  the  property  of  the  speaker,  as  well  as  the  soles 
of  his  feet,  and  the  free  enjoyment  of  his.  throat.  So  it  results 
that  most  of  the  Turks  whom  one  sees,  have  a  lawyer-like  habit 
of  speaking  connectedly,  and  at  length.  The  treaties  continually 
going  on  in  the  bazaar  for  the  buying  and  selling  of  the  merest 
trifles,  are  carried  on  by  speechifying,  rather  than  by  mere 
colloquies,  and  the  eternal  uncertainty  as  to  the  market  value  of 
things  in  constant  sale,  gives  room  for  endless  discussion.  The 
seller  is  for  ever  demanding  a  price  immensely  beyond  that  for 
which  he  sells  at  last,  and  so  occasions  unspeakable  disgust  to 
many  Englishmen,  who  cannot  see  why  an  honest  dealer  should 
ask  more  for  his  goods  than  he  will  really  take : — the  truth  is, 
however,  that  an  ordinary  tradesman  of  Constantinople  has  no 
other  way  of  finding  out  the  fair  market  value  of  his  property. 
The  difficulty  under  which  he  labors  is  easily  shown  by  com- 
paring the  mechanism  of  the  commercial  system  in  Turkey, 
with  that  of  our  own  country.  In  England,  or  in  any  other 
great  mercantile  country,  the  bulk  of  the  things  which  are 
bought  and  sold,  goes  through  the  hands  of  a  wholesale  dealer, 
and  it  is  he  who  higgles  and  bargains  with  an  entire  nation  of 
purchasers,  by  entering  into  treaty  with  retail  sellers.  The 
labor  of  making  a  few  large  contracts  is  sufficient  to  give  a  clue 
for  finding  the  fair  market  value  of  the  things  sold  throughout 
the  country ;  but  in  Turkey,  from  the  primitive  habits  of  the 
people,  and  partly  from  the  absence  of  great'-  capital,  'and  great 
credit,  the  importing  merchant,  the  warehouseman,  the  whole- 
sale dealer,  and  the  shopman,  are  all  one  person.  Old  Moostapha, 
or  Abdallah,  or  Hadgi  Mohamed,  waddles  up  from  the  water's 
edge  with  a  small  packet  of  merchandize,  which  he  has  bought 
out  of  a  Greek  brigantine,  and  when  at  last  he  has  reached  his 
nook  in  the  bazaar,  he  puts  his  goods  before  the  counter,  and 
himself  upon  it — then  laying  fire  to  his  tchibouque  he  "  sits  in 
permanence,"  and  patiently  waits  to  obtain  "  the  best  price  that 
can  be  got  in  an  open  market."  This  is  his  fair  right  as  ?  sel- 
ler, but  he  has  no  means  of  finding  out  what  that  best  price  is, 
except  by  actual  experiment.  He  cannot  know  the  intensity  of 


CHAP.  HI.]  CONSTANTINOPLE.  29 

the  demand,  or  the  abundance  of  the  supply,  otherwise  than  by 
the  offers  which  may  be  made  for  his  little  bundle  of  goods ;  so 
he  begins  by  asking  a  perfectly  hopeless  price,  and  thence 
descends  the  ladder  until  he  meets  a  purchaser,  for  ever 

"  striving  to  attain 
By  shadowing  out  the  unattainable." 

This  is  the  struggle  which  creates  the  continual  occasion  for 
debate.  The  vendor,  perceiving  that  the  unfolded  merchandize 
has  caught  the  eye  of  a  possible  purchaser,  commences  his 
opening  speech.  He  covers  his  bristling  broadcloths,  and  his 
meagre  silks,  with  the  golden  broidery  of  oriental  praises,  and 
as  he  talks,  along  with  the  slow  and  graceful  waving  of  his 
arms,  he  lifts  his  undulating  periods,  upholds,  and  poises  them 
well,  till  they  have  gathered  their  weight,  and  their  strength, 
and  then  hurls  them  bodily  forward,  with  grave,  momentous 
swing.  The  possible  purchaser  listens  to  the  whole  speech  with 
deep  and  serious  attention  ;  but  when  it  is  over,  his  turn  ar- 
rives ;  he  elaborately  endeavors .  to  show  why  he  ought  not  to 
buy  the  things  at  a  price  twenty  times  more  than  their  value  : 
bystanders,  attracted  to  the  debate,  take  a  part  in  it  as  indepen- 
dent members — the  vendor  is  heard  in  reply,  and  coming  down 
with  his  price,  furnishes  the  materials  for  a  new  debate.  Some- 
times, however,  the  dealer,  if  he  is  a  very  pious  Mussulman, 
and  sufficiently  rich  to  hold  back  his  ware,  will  take  a  more 
dignified  part,  maintaining  a  kind  of  judicial  gravity,  and  receiv- 
ing the  applicants  who  come  to  his  stall,  as  if  they  were  rather 
suitors,  than  customers.  He  will  quietly  hear  to  the  end,  some 
long  speech  which  concludes  with  an  offer,  and  will  answer  it 
all  with  the  one  monosyllable  "  Yok,"  which  means  distinctly 
«  No." 

I  caught  one  glimpse  of  the  old  Heathen  World.  My  habits 
of  studying  military  subjects  had  been  hardening  my  heart 
against  Poetry.  For  ever  staring  at  the  flames  of  battle,  I  had 
blinded  myself  to  the  lesser  and  finer  lights  that  are  shed  from  the 
imaginations  of  men.  In  my  reading  at  this  time,  I  delighted  to 
follow  from  out  of  Arabian  sands,  the  feet  of  the  armed  believers, 


30  EOTHEN.  [CHAP.  in. 

and  to  stand  in  the  broad,  manifest  storm-track  of  Tartar  devas- 
tation ;  and  thus,  though  surrounded  at  Constantinople,  by  scenes 
of  much  interest  to  the  "  classical  scholar,"  I  had  cast  aside  their 
associations  like  an  old  Greek  grammar,  and  turned  my  face  to 
the  "  shining  Orient,"  forgetful  of  old  Greece,  and  all  the  pure 
wealth  she  has  left  to  this  matter-of-fact-ridden  world.  But  it 
happened  to  me  one  day  to  mount  the  high  grounds  overhang- 
ing the  streets  of  Pera ;  I  sated  my  eyes  with  the  pomps  of  the 
city,  and  its  crowded  waters,  and  then  I  looked  over  where 
Scutari  lay  half  veiled  in  her  mournful  cypresses ;  I  looked  yet 
farther,  and  higher,  and  saw  in  the  heavens  a  silvery  cloud  that 
stood  fast,  and  still  against  the  breeze  ;  it  was  pure,  and  daz- 
zling white  as  might  be  the  veil  of  Cytherea,  yet  touched  with 
fire,  as  though  from  beneath,  the  loving  eyes  of  an  immortal 
were  shining  through  and  through.  I  knew  the  bearing,  but 
had  enormously  misjudged  its  distance,  and  underrated  its 
height,  and  so  it  was  a  sign  and  a  testimony — almost  as  a  call 
from  the  neglected  gods,  that  now  I  saw  and  acknowledged  the 
snowy  crown  of  the  Mysian  Olympus  ! 


CHAP,  iv.]  THE  TROAD. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

The  Troad. 

METHLEY  recovered  almost  suddenly,  and  we  determined  to  go 
through  the  Troad  together. 

My  comrade  was  a  capital  Grecian  ;  it  is  true  that  his  singu- 
lar mind  so  ordered  and  disposed  the  classic  lore  which  he  had 
gained,  as  to  impress  it  with  something  of  an  original  and  bar- 
barous  character — with  an  almost  Gothic  quaintness,  more 
properly  belonging  to  a  rich  native  ballad,  than  to  the  poetry  of 
Hellas ;  there  was  a  certain  impropriety  in  his  knowing  so  much 
Greek — an  unfitness  in  the  idea  of  marble  fauns,  and  satyrs, 
and  even  Olympian  Gods,  lugged  in  under  the  oaken  roof,  and 
the  painted  light  of  an  odd  old  Norman  hall.  But  Methley 
abounding  in  Homer,  really  loved  him  (as  I  believe)  in  all 
truth,  without  whim  or  fancy ;  moreover,  he  had  a  good  deal  of 
the  practical  sagacity,  or  sharpness,  or  whatever  you  call  it 

"  of  a  Yorkshireman  hippodamoio," 

and  this  enabled  him  to  apply  his  knowledge  with  much  more 
tact  than  is  usually  shown  by  people  so  learned  as  he. 

I,  too,  loved  Homer,  but  not  with  a  scholar's  love.  The  most 
humble  and  pious  amongst  women  was  yet  so  proud  a  mother 
that  she  could  teach  her  first-born  son,  no  Watts'  hymns — no 
collects  for  the  day ;  she  could  teach  him  in  earliest  childhood, 
no  less  than  this — to  find  a  home  in  his  saddle,  and  to  love  old 
Homer,  and  all  that  Homer  sung.  True  it  is,  that  the  Greek 
was  ingeniously  rendered  into  English — the  English  of  Pope 
even,  but  it  is  not  such  a  mesh  as  that,  that  can  screen  an 
earnest  child  from  the  fire  of  Homer's  battles. 

1  pored  over  the  Odyssey  as  over  a  story-book,  hoping  and 
fearing  for  the  hero  whom  yet  I  partly  scorned.  But  the  Iliad — 


32  EOTHEN.  [CHAP.  iv. 

line  by  line,  I  clasped  it  to  ray  brain  with  reverence  as  well  as 
with  love.  As  an  old  woman  deeply  trustful  sits  reading  her 
Bible  because  of  the  world  to  come,  so,  as  though  it  would  fit 
me  for  the  coming  strife  of  this  temporal  world,  I  read,  and  read 
the  Iliad.  Even  outwardly  it  was  not  like  other  books ;  it  was 
throned  in  towering  folios.  There  was  a  preface  or  dissertation 
printed  in  type  still  more  majestic  than  the  rest  of  the  book  ; 
this  I  read,  but  not  till  my  enthusiasm  for  the  Iliad  had  already 
run  high.  The  writer,  compiling  the  opinions  of  many  men,  and 
chiefly  of  the  ancients,  set  forth,  I  know  not  how  quaintly,  that 
the  Iliad  was  all  in  all  to  the  human  race — that  it  was  history — 
poetry — revelation — that  the  works  of  men's  hands  were  folly 
and  vanity,  and  would  pass  away  like  the  dreams  of  a  child, 
but  that  the  kingdom  of  Homer  would  endure  for  ever  and  ever. 
I  assented  with  all  my  soul.  I  read,  and  still  read  ;  I  came 
to  know  Homer.  A  learned  commentator  knows  something  of 
the  Greeks,  in  the  same  sense  as  an  oil-and -color- man  may  be 
said  to  know  something  of  painting,  but  take  an  untamed  child, 
and  leave  him  alone  for  twelve  months  with  any  translation  of 
Homer,  and  he  will  be  nearer  by  twenty  centuries  to  the  spirit 
of  old  Greece ;  he  does  not  stop  in  the  ninth  year  of  the  siege, 
to  admire  this  or  that  group  of  words — he  has  no  books  in  his 
tent,  but  he  shares  in  vital  counsels  with  the  "  King  of  men," 
and  knows  the  inmost  souls  of  the  impending  Gods ;  how  pro- 
fanely  he  exults  over  the  powers  divine,  when  they  are  taught 
to  dread  the  prowess  of  mortals  !  and  most  of  all  how  he  rejoices 
when  the  God  of  War  flies  howling  from  the  spear  of  Diomed, 
and  mounts  into  Heaven  for  safety  !  Then  the  beautiful  episode 
of  the  6th  Book :  the  way  to  feel  this  is  not  to  go  casting  about, 
and  learning  from  pastors,  and  masters,  how  best  to  admire  it ; 
the  impatient  child  is  not  grubbing  for  beauties,  but  pushing  the 
siege ;  the  women  vex  him  with  their  delays,  and  their  talking 
— the  mention  of  the  nurse  is  personal,  and  little  sympathy  has 
he  for  the  child  that  is  young  enough  to  be  frightened  at  the 
nodding  plume  of  a  helmet,  but  all  the  while  that  he  thus  chafes 
at  the  pausing  of  the  action,  the  strong  vertical  light  of  Homer's 
Poetry  is  blazing  so  full  upon  the  people,  and  things  of  the  Iliad, 
that  soon  to  the  eyes  of  the  child,  they  grow  familiar  as  his 


CHAP,  iv.]  THE  TROAD.  33 

mother's  shawl ;  yet  of  this  great  gain  he  is  unconscious,  and 
on  he  goes,  vengefully  thirsting  for  the  best  blood  of  Troy,  and 
never  remitting  his  fierceness,  till  almost  suddenly  it  is  changed 
for  sorrow — the  new  and  generous  sorrow  that  he  learns  to  feel, 
when  the  noblest  of  all  his  foes  lies  sadly  dying  at  the  Scsean 
gate. 

Heroic  days  were  these,  but  the  dark  ages  of  school-boy  life 
came  closing  over  them.  I  suppose  it's  all  right  in  the  end,  yet, 
by  Jove,  at  first  sight,  it  does  seem  a  sad  intellectual  fall  from 
your  mother's  dressing-room  to  a  buzzing  school.  You  feel  so 
keenly  the  delights  of  early  knowledge ;  you  form  strange 
mystic  friendships  with  the  mere  names  of  mountains,  and  seas, 
and  continents,  and  mighty  rivers  ;  you  learn  the  ways  of  the 
planets,  and  transcend  their  narrow  limits,  and  ask  for  the  end 
of  space ;  you  vex  the  electric  cylinder  till  it  yields  you,  for 
your  toy  to  play  with,  that  subtle  fire  in  which  our  earth  was 
forged ;  you  know  of  the  nations  that  have  towered  high  in  the 
world,  and  the  lives  of  the  men  who  have  saved  whole  Empires 
from  oblivion.  What  more  will  you  ever  learn  ?  Yet  the  dis- 
mal change  is  ordained,  and  then,  thin,  meagre  Latin  (the  same 
for  everybody),  with  small  shreds  and  patches  of  Greek,  is 
thrown  like  a  pauper's  pall  over  all  your  early  lore ;  instead  of 
sweet  knowledge,  vile,  monkish,  doggerel  grammars,  and 
graduses,  Dictionaries,  and  Lexicons,  and  horrible  odds  and 
ends  of  dead  languages  are  given  you  for  your  portion,  and 
down  you  fall,  from  Roman  story  to  a  three  inch  scrap  of 
"  Scriptores  Romani," — from  Greek  poetry,  down,  down  to  the 
cold  rations  of  "  Poetse  Grseci,"  cut  up  by  commentators,  and 
served  out  by  schoolmasters ! 

It  was  not  the  recollection  of  school,  nor  college  learning,  but 
the  rapturous  and  earnest  reading  of  my  childhood  which  made 
me  bend  forward  so  longingly  to  the  plains  of  Troy. 

Away  from  our  people  and  our  horses,  Methley  and  I  went 
loitering  along,  by  the  willowy  banks  of  a  stream  that  crept  in 
quietness  through  the  low,  even  plain.  There  was  no  stir  of 
weather  over-head — no  sound  of  rural  labor — no  sign  of  life  in 
the  land,  but  all  the  earth  was  dead,  and  still,  as  though  it  had 


34  EOTHEN.  [CHAP.  rv. 

lain  for  thrice  a  thousand  years  under  the  leaden  gloom  of  one 
unbroken  sabbath. 

Softly  and  sadly  the  poor,  dumb,  patient  stream  went  wind- 
ing, and  winding  along  through  its  shifting  pathway ;  in  some 
places  its  waters  were  parted,  and  then  again,  lower  down,  they 
would  meet  once  more.  I  could  see  the  stream  from  year  to 
year  was  finding  itself  new  channels,  and  flowed  no  longer  in 
its  ancient  track,  but  I  knew  that  the  springs  which  fed  it  were 
high  on  Ida — the  springs  of  Simois  and  Scamander  ! 

It  was  coldly,  and  thanklessly,  and  with  vacant  unsatisfied 
eyes  that  I  watched  the  slow  coming,  and  the  gliding  away  of 
the  waters  ;  I  tell  myself  now,  as  a  profane  fact,  that  I  did 
indeed  stand  by  that  river  (Methley  gathered  some  seeds  from 
the  bushes  that  grew  there),  but,  since  that  I  am  away  from 
his  banks,  "  divine  Scamander "  has  recovered  the  proper 
mystery  belonging  to  him,  as  an  unseen  deity  ;  a  kind  of  indis- 
tinctness, like  that  which  belongs  to  far  antiquity,  has  spread 
itself  over  my  memory,  of  the  winding  stream  that  I  saw  with 
these  very  eyes.  One's  mind  regains  in  absence  that  dominion 
over  earthly  things  which  has  been  shaken  by  their  rude  contact ; 
you  force  yourself  hardily  into  the  material  presence  of  a  moun- 
tain, or  a  river,  whose  name  belongs  to  poetry  and  ancient  reli- 
gion, rather  than  to  the  external  world  ;  your  feelings  wound  up 
and  kept  ready  for  some  sort  of  half-expected  rapture  are 
chilled,  and  borne  down  for  the  time  under  all  this  load  of  real 
earth  and  water ;  but,  let  these  once  pass  out  of  sight,  and  then 
again  the  old  fanciful  notions  are  restored,  and  the  mere  realities 
which  you  have  just  been  looking  at  are  thrown  back  so  far  into 
distance,  that  the  very  event  of  your  intrusion  upon  such 
scenes  begins  to  look  dim,  and  uncertain  as  though  it  belonged 
to  mythology. 

It  is  not  over  the  plain  before  Troy  that  the  river  now  flows ; 
its  waters  have  edged  away  far  towards  the  north,  since  the  day 
that  "divine  Scamander"  (whom  the  gods  call  Xanthus)  went 
down  to  do  battle  for  Ilion,  with  Mars,  and  Phoebus,  and  Latona, 
and  Diana  glorying  in  her  arrows,  and  Venus  the  lover  of 
smiles. 

And  now,  when  I  was  vexed  at  the  migration  of  Scamander, 
and  the  total  loss  or  absorption  of  poor  dear  Simois,  how  happily 


CHAP,  iv.]  THE  TROAD.  35 

Methley  reminded  me  that  Homer  himself  had  warned  us  of 
some  such  changes  !  The  Greeks,  in  beginning  their  wall,  had 
neglected  the  hecatombs  due  to  the  gods  ;  and  so,  after  the  fall 
of  Troy,  Apollo  turned  the  paths  of  the  rivers  that  flow  from 
Ida,  and  sent  them  flooding  over  the  wall  till  all  the  beach  was 
smooth,  and  free  from  the  unhallowed  works  of  the  Greeks.  It 
is  true,  I  see  now,  on  looking  to  the  passage,  that  Neptune, 
when  the  work  of  destruction  was  done,  turned  back  the  rivers 
to  their  ancient  ways  : 


.  .  .  jroro/iovf  S'erpeifss 
Ka/>'  poov  hvep  irpovBev  lev  Ka\\tppoov  vtiup, 

but  their  old  channels  passing  through  that  light  pervious  soil 
would  have  been  lost  in  the  nine  days'  flood,  and  perhaps  the 
god,  when  he  willed  to  bring  back  the  rivers  to  their  ancient 
beds,  may  have  done  his  work  but  ill  ;  it  is  easier,  they  say,  to 
destroy  than  it  is  to  restore. 

We  took  to  our  horses  again,  and  went  southward  towards 
the  very  plain  between  Troy  and  the  tents  of  the  Greeks,  but  we 
rode  by  a  line  at  some  distance  from  the  shore.  Whether  it  was 
that  the  lay  of  the  ground  hindered  my  view  towards  the  sea,  or 
that  I  was  all  intent  upon  Ida,  or  whether  my  mind  was  in 
vacancy,  or  whether,  as  is  most  like,  I  had  strayed  from  the 
Dardan  plains,  all  back  to  gentle  England,  there  is  now  no 
knowing,  nor  caring,  but  it  was  —  not  quite  suddenly  indeed,  but 
rather  as  it  were,  in  the  swelling  and  falling  of  a  single  wave, 
that  the  reality  of  that  very  sea-view,  which  had  bounded  the 
sight  of  the  Greeks,  now  visibly  acceded  to  me,  and  rolled  full 
in  upon  my  brain.  Conceive  how  deeply  that  eternal  coast-line 
—  that  fixed  horizon  —  those  island  rocks  must  have  graven  their 
images  upon  the  minds  of  the  Grecian  warriors  by  the  time  that 
they  had  reached  the  ninth  year  of  the  siege!  conceive  the 
strength,  and  the  fanciful  beauty,  of  the  speeches  with  which  a 
whole  army  of  imagining  men  must  have  told  their  weariness, 
and  how  the  sauntering  chiefs  must  have  whelmed  that  daily, 
daily  scene  with  their  deep  Ionian  curses  ! 

And  now  it  was  that  my  eyes  were  greeted  with  a  delightful 
surprise.  Whilst  we  were  at  Constantinople,  Methley  and  I  had 
pored  over  the  map  together  j  we  agreed  that  whatever  may 


36  EOTHEN.  [CHAP.  iv. 

have  been  the  exact  site  of  Troy,  the  Grecian  camp  must  have 
been  nearly  opposite  to  the  space  betwixt  the  islands  of  Imbros 
and  Tenedos  :  — 


but  Methley  reminded  me  of  a  passage  in  the  Iliad  in  which  Jove 
is  represented  as  looking  at  the  scene  of  action  before  Ilion  from 
above  the  Island  of  Samothrace.  Now,  Samothrace,  according 
to  the  map,  appeared  to  be  not  only  out  of  all  seeing  distance 
from  the  Troad,  but  to  be  entirely  shut  out  from  it  by  the  inter- 
vening Imbros,  which  is  a  larger  island,  stretching  its  length 
right  athwart  the  line  of  sight  from  Samothrace  to  Troy. 
Piously  allowing  that  the  eagle-eye  of  Jove  might  have  seen 
the  strife  even  from  his  own  Olympus,  I  still  felt  that  if  a  station 
were  to  be  chosen  from  which  to  see  the  fight,  old  Homer,  so 
material  in  his  ways  of  thought,  so  averse  from  all  haziness  and 
over-reaching,  would  have  meant  to  give  the  Thunderer  a  sta- 
tion within  the  reach  of  men's  eyes  from  the  plains  of  Troy. 
I  think  that  this  testing  of  the  poet's  words  by  map  and  compass, 
may  have  shaken  a  little  of  my  faith  in  the  completeness  of  his 
knowledge.  Well,  now  I  had  come  j  there  to  the  south  was 
Tenedos,  and  here  at  my  side  was  Imbros,  all  right,  and 
according  to  the  map,  but  aloft  over  Imbros  —  aloft  in  a  far-away 
Heaven  was  Samothrace,  the  watch-tower  of  Jove  ! 

So  Homer  had  appointed  it,  and  so  it  was  j  the  map  was  cor- 
rect enough,  but  could  not,  like  Homer,  convey  the  whole  truth. 
Thus  vain  and  false  are  the  mere  human  surmises  and  doubts 
which  clash  with  Homeric  writ  ! 

Nobody,  whose  mind  had  not  been  reduced  to  the  most  de- 
plorably logical  condition,  could  look  upon  this  beautiful  con- 
gruity  betwixt  the  Iliad  and  the  material  world,  and  yet  bear  to 
suppose  that  the  poet  may  have  learned  the  features  of  the  coast 
from  mere  hearsay  j  now  then,  I  believed  —  now  I  knew  that 
Homer  had  passed  along  here  —  that  this  vision  of  Samothrace 
over-towering  the  nearer  island  was  common  to  him  and  to  me. 

After  a  journey  of  some  few  days  by  the  route  of  Adramiti 
and  Pergamo,  we  reached  Smyrna.  The  letters  which  Methley 
here  received  obliged  him  to  return  to  England. 


CHAP,  v.]  INFIDEL  SMYRNA. 


CHAPTER  V. 

Infidel  Smyrna. 

SMYRNA,  or  Giaour  Izmir,  as  the  Mussulmans  call  it,  is  the 
main  point  of  commercial  contact  betwixt  Europe  and  Asia ; 
you  are  there  surrounded  by  the  people,  and  the  confused  cus- 
toms of  many,  and  various  nations — you  see  the  fussy  European 
adopting  the  East,  and  calming  his  restlessness  with  the  long 
Turkish  pipe  of  tranquillity — you  see  Jews  offering  services, 
and  receiving  blows* — on  one  side  you  have  a  fellow  whose 
dress  and  beard  would  give  you  a  good  idea  of  the  true  oriental, 
if  it  were  not  for  the  gobe-mouche  expression  of  countenance 
with  which  he  is  swallowing  an  article  in  the  National,  and 
there,  just  by,  is  a  genuine  Osmanlee,  smoking  away  with  all 
the  majesty  of  a  Sultan,  but  before  you  have  time  to  admire 
sufficiently  his  tranquil  dignity,  and  his  soft  Asiatic  repose,  the 
poor  old  fellow  is  ruthlessly  "  run  down  "  by  an  English  mid- 
shipman,  who  has  set  sail  on  a  Smyrna  hack.  Such  are  the 
incongruities  of  the  "  infidel  city,"  at  ordinary  times  ;  but  when 
I  was  there,  our  friend  Carrigaholt  had  imported  himself,  and 
his  oddities,  as  an  accession  to  the  other  and  inferior  wonders 

*  The  Jews  of  Smyrna  are  poor,  and  having  little  merchandize  of  their 
own  to  dispose  of,  they  are  sadly  importunate  in  offering  their  services  as 
intermediaries ;  their  troublesome  conduct  has  led  to  the  custom  of  beating 
them  in  the  open  streets.  It  is  usual  for  Europeans  to  carry  long  sticks  with 
them  for  the  express  purpose  of  keeping  off  the  chosen  people.  I  always 
felt  ashamed  to  strike  the  poor  fellows  myself,  but  I  confess  to  the  amuse- 
ment with  which  I  witnessed  the  observance  of  this  custom  by  other  people  ; 
the  Jew  seldom  got  hurt  much,  for  he  was  always  expecting  the  blow,  and 
was  ready  to  recede  from  it  the  moment  it  came ;  one  could  not  help  being 
rather  gratified  at  seeing  him  bound  away  so  nimbly  with  his  long  robes 
floating  out  in  the  air,  and  then  again  wheel  round,  and  return  with  fresh 
importunities. 


38  EOTHEN.  [CHAP.  v. 

of  Smyrna.  I  was  sitting  alone  in  my  room  one  day  at  Con- 
stantinople,  when  I  heard  Methley  approaching  my  door  with 
shouts  of  laughter  and  welcome,  and  presently  I  recognized 
that  peculiar  cry  by  which  our  friend  Carrigaholt  expresses  his 
emotions ;  he  soon  explained  to  us  the  final  causes  by  which  the 
fates  had  worked  out  their  .wonderful  purpose  of  bringing  him 
to  Constantinople.  He  was  always,  you  know,  very  fond  of 
sailing,  but  he  had  got  into  such  sad  scrapes  (including  I  think 
a  lawsuit)  on  account  of  his  last  yacht,  that  he  took  it  into  his 
head  to  have  a  cruise  in  a  merchant  vessel,  so  he  went  to  Liver- 
pool,  and  looked  through  the  craft  lying  ready  to  sail,  till  he 
found  a  smart  schooner  which  perfectly  suited  his  taste :  the 
destination  of  the  vessel  was  the  last  thing  he  thought  of,  and 
when  he  was  told  that  she  was  bound  for  Constantinople,  he 
merely  assented  to  that  as  a  part  of  the  arrangement  to  which 
he  had  no  objection.  When  the  vessel  had  sailed,  the  hapless 
passenger  discovered  that  his  skipper  carried  on  board  an  enor- 
mous wife  with  an  inquiring  mind,  and  an  irresistible  tendency 
to  impart  her  opinions.  She  looked  upon  her  guest  as  upon  a 
piece  of  waste  intellect  that  ought  to  be  carefully  tilled.  She 
tilled  him  accordingly.  If  the  Dons  at  Oxford  could  have  seen 
poor  Carrigaholt  thus  absolutely  "  attending  lectures "  in  the 
bay  of  Biscay,  they  would  surely  have  thought  him  sufficiently 
punished  for  all  the  wrongs  he  did  them,  whilst  he  was  preparing 
himself  under  their  care  for  the  other,  and  more  boisterous 
University.  The  voyage  did  not  last  more  than  six  or  eight 
weeks,  and  the  philosophy  inflicted  on  Carrigaholt  was  not 
entirely  fatal  to  him ;  certainly  he  was  somewhat  emaciated,  and 
for  aught  I  know,  he  may  have  subscribed  somewhat  too  largely 
to  the  "  Feminine-right-of-reason  Society  ;"  but  it  did  not  appear 
that  his  health  had  been  seriously  affected.  There  was  a 
scheme  on  foot,  it  would  seem,  for  taking  the  passenger  back  to 
England  in  the  same  schooner — a  scheme,  in  fact,  for  keeping 
him  perpetually  afloat,  and  perpetually  saturated  with  argu- 
ments; but  when  Carrigaholt  found  himself  ashore,  and  re- 
membered that  the  skipperina  (who  had  imprudently  remained 
on  board),  was  not  there  to  enforce  her  suggestions,  he  was  open 
to  the  hints  of  his  servant  (a  very  sharp  fellow),  who  arranged 


CHAP,  v.]  INFIDEL  SMYRNA.  39 

a  plan  for  escaping,  and  finally  brought  off  his  master  to  Giu- 
seppini's  Hotel. 

Our  friend  afterwards  went  by  sea  to  Smyrna,  and  there  he 
now  was  in  his  glory.  He  had  a  good,  or  at  all  events  a  gen- 
tleman-like judgment  in  matters  of  taste,  and  as  his  great  object 
was  to  surround  himself  with  all  that  his  fancy  could  dictate, 
he  lived  in  a  state  of  perpetual  negotiation  ;  he  was  for  ever  on 
the  point  of  purchasing,  not  only  the  material  productions  of 
the  place,  but  all  sorts  of  such  fine  ware  as  "  intelligence," 
"  fidelity,"  and  so  on.  He  was  most  curious,  however,  as  a 
purchaser  of  the  "  affections."  Sometimes  he  would  imagine 
that  he  had  a  marital  aptitude,  and  his  fancy  would  sketch  a 
graceful  picture,  in  which  he  appeared  reclining  on  a  divan, 
With  a  beautiful  Greek  woman  fondly  couched  at  his  feet,  and 
soothing  him  with  the  witchery  of  her  guitar ;  having  satisfied 
himself  with  the  ideal  picture  thus  created,  he  would  pass  into 
action  ;  the  guitar  he  would  buy  instantly,  and  would  give  such 
intimations  of  his  wish  to  be  wedded  to  a  Greek,  as  could  not 
fail  to  produce  great  excitement  in  the  families  of  the  beautiful 
Smyrniotes.  Then  again  (and  just  in  time  perhaps  to  save 
him  from  the  yoke),  his  dream  would  pass  away,  and  another 
would  come  in  its  stead ;  he  would  suddenly  feel  the  yearnings 
of  a  father's  love,  and  willing  by  force  of  gold  to  transcend  all 
natural  preliminaries,  he  would  give  instructions  for  the  pur- 
chase  of  some  dutiful  child  that  could  be  warranted  to  love  him 
as  a  parent.  Then  at  another  time  he  would  be  convinced  that 
the  attachment  of  menials  might  satisfy  the  longings  of  his 
affectionate  heart,  and  thereupon  he  would  give  orders  to  his 
slave-merchant  for  something  in  the  way  of  eternal  fidelity. 
You  may  well  imagine  that  this  anxiety  of  Carrigaholt  to  pur- 
chase  (not  only  the  scenery)  but  the  many  dramatis  personse 
belonging  to  his  dreams,  with  all  their  goodness,  and  graces 
complete,  necessarily  gave  an  immense'  stimulus  to  the  trade 
and  intrigue  of  Smyrna,  and  created  a  demand  for  human  vir- 
tues which  the  moral  resources  of  the  place  were  totally  inade- 
quate to  supply.  Every  day  after  breakfast,  this  lover  of  the 
Good  and  the  Beautiful  held  a  levee,  which  was  often  exceedingly 
amusing ;  in  his  ante-room,  there  would  be  not  only  the  sellers 


40  EOTHEN.  [CHAP.  v. 

of  pipes,  and  slippers,  and  shawls,  and  such  like  Oriental  mer- 
chandize, not  only  embroiderers,  and  cunning  workmen  patiently 
striving  to  realize  his  visions  of  Albanian  dresses — not  only  the 
servants  offering  for  places,  and  the  slave-dealer  tendering  his 
sable  ware,  but  there  would  be  the  Greek  master,  waiting  to 
teach  his  pupil  the  grammar  of  the  soft  Ionian  tongue,  in  which 
he  was  to  delight  the  wife  of  his  imagination,  and  the  music- 
master  who  was  to  teach  him  some  sweet  replies  to  the  antici- 
pated sounds  of  the  fancied  guitar ;  and  then  above  all,  and 
proudly  eminent  with  undisputed  preference  of  entree,  and 
fraught  with  the  mysterious  tidings  on  which  the  realization  of 
the  whole  drama  might  depend,  was  the  mysterious  match- 
maker,* enticing,  and  postponing  the  suitor,  yet  ever  keeping 
alive  in  his  soul  the  love  of  that  pictured  virtue  whose  beauty 
(unseen  by  eyes)  was  half  revealed  to  the  Imagination. 

You  would  have  thought  that  this  practical  dreaming  must 
have  soon  brought  Carrigaholt  to  a  bad  end,  but  he  was  in  much 
less  danger  than  you  would  suppose ;  for  besides  that  the  new 
visions  of  happiness  almost  always  came  in  time  to  counteract 
the  fatal  completion  of  the  preceding  scheme,  his  high  breeding 
and  his  delicately  sensitive  taste  almost  always  came  to  his  aid, 
at  times,  when  he  was  left  without  any  other  protection,  and  the 
efficacy  of  these  qualities  in  keeping  a  man  out  of  harm's  way 
is  really  immense  j  in  all  baseness  and  imposture  there  is  a 
coarse,  vulgar  spirit,  which,  however  artfully  concealed  for  a 
time,  must  sooner  or  later  show  itself  in  some  little  circum- 
stance, sufficiently  plain  to  occasion  an  instant  jar  upon  the 
minds  of  those  whose  taste  is  lively  and  true  j  to  such  men  a  shock 
of  this  kind  disclosing  the  ugliness  of  a  cheat,  is  more  effec- 
tively convincing  than  any  mere  proofs  could  be. 

Thus  guarded  from  isle  to  isle,  and  through  Greece,  and 
through  Albania,  this  practical  Plato,  with  a  purse  in  his  hand, 
carried  on  his  mad  chase  after  the  Good  and  the  Beautiful,  and 
yet  returned  in  safety  to  his  home.  But  now,  poor  fellow !  the 
lowly  grave,  that  is  the  end  of  men's  romantic  hopes,  has  closed 

*  Marriages  in  the  East  are  arranged  by  professed  match-makers ;  many 
of  these,  I  believe,  are  Jewesses, 


CHAP,  v.]  INFIDEL  SMYRNA.  41 

over  all  his  rich  fancies,  and  all  his  high  aspirations ;  he  is 
utterly  married !  No  more  hope,  no  more  change  for  him — no 
more  relays — he  must  go  on  Vetturini-wise  to  the  appointed  end 
of  his  journey ! 

Smyrna,  I  think,  may  be  called  the  chief  town,  and  capital  of 
the  Grecian  race,  against  which  you  will  be  cautioned  so  care- 
fully as  soon  as  you  touch  the  Levant.  You  will  say  that  I 
ought  not  to  confound  as  one  people  the  Greeks  living  under  a 
constitutional  government,  with  the  unfortunate  Rayahs  who 
"  groan  under  the  Turkish  yoke,"  but  I  can't  see  that  political 
events  have  hitherto  produced  any  strongly  marked  difference 
of  character.  If  I  could  venture  to  rely  (which  I  feel  that  I 
cannot  at  all  do)  upon  my  own  observation,  I  should  tell  you 
that  there  was  more  heartiness  and  strength  in  the  Greeks  of 
the  Ottoman  Empire  than  in  those  of  the  new  kingdom — the 
truth  is,  that  there  is  a  greater  field  for  commercial  enterprise, 
and  even  for  Greek  ambitions,  under  the  Ottoman  sceptre,  than 
is  to  be  found  in  the  dominions  of  Otho.  Indeed  the  people,  by 
their  frequent  migrations  from  the  limits  of  the  constitutional 
kingdom,  to  the  territories  of  the  Porte,  seem  to  show,  that,  on 
the  whole,  they  prefer  "  groaning  under  the  Turkish  yoke,"  to 
the  honor  of  "  being  the  only  true  source  of  legitimate  power," 
in  their  own  land. 

For  myself,  I  love  the  race ;  in  spite  of  all  their  vices,  and 
even  in  spite  of  all  their  meanness,  I  remember  the  blood  that 
is  in  them,  and  still  love  the  Greeks.  The  Osmanlees  are,  of 
course,  by  nature,  by  religion,  and  by  politics,  the  strong  foes 
of  the  Hellenic  people,  and  as  the  Greeks,  poor  fellows !  hap- 
pen to  be  a  little  deficient  in  some  of  the  virtues  which  facilitate 
the  transaction  of  commercial  business  (such  as  veracity,  fidel- 
ity, &c.),  it  naturally  follows  that  they  are  highly  unpopular 
with  the  European  merchants.  Now,  these  are  the  persons 
through  whom,  either  directly  or  indirectly,  is  derived  the 
greater  part  of  the  information  which  you  gather  in  the  Levant, 
and  therefore  you  must  make  up  your  mind  to  hear  an  almost 
universal  and  unbroken  testimony  against  the  character  of  the 
people,  whose  ancestors  invented  Virtue.  And  strange  to  say, 
the  Greeks  themselves  do  not  attempt  to  disturb  this  general  una- 


42  EOTHEN.  [CHAP.  v. 

nimity  of  opinion  by  any  dissent  on  their  part.  Question  a 
Greek  on  the  subject,  and  he  will  tell  you  at  once  that  the  people 
are  "  traditori,"  and  will  then,  perhaps,  endeavor  to  shake  off 
his  fair  share  of  the  imputation,  by  asserting  that  his  father  had 
been  dragoman  to  some  foreign  embassy,  and  that  he  (the  son), 
therefore,  by  the  law  of  nations,  had  ceased  to  be  Greek. 

"E  dunque  no  siete  traditore  ?" 

"  Possibile,  Signor,  ma  almeno  lo  no  sono  Greco." 

Not  even  the  diplomatic  representatives  of  the  Hellenic  king- 
dom are  free  from  the  habit  of  depreciating  their  brethren.  I 
recollect,  that  at  one  of  the  ports  in  Syria,  a  Greek  vessel  was 
rather  unfairly  kept  in  quarantine  by  order  of  the  Board  of 
Health,  which  consisted  entirely  of  Europeans.  A  consular 
agent  from  the  kingdom  of  Greece  had  lately  hoisted  his  flag  in 
the  town,  and  the  captain  of  the  vessel  drew  up  a  remonstrance, 
which  he  requested  his -consul  to  present  to  the  Board. 

"  Now,  is  this  reasonable  ?"  said  the  consul,  "is  it  reasonable 
that  I  should  place  myself  in  collision  with  all  the  principal 
European  gentlemen  of  the  place  for  the  sake  of  you,  a  Greek  ?" 
The  skipper  was  greatly  vexed  at  the  failure  of  his  application, 
but  he  scarcely  even  questioned  the  justice  of  the  ground  which 
his  consul  had  taken.  Well,  it  happened  some  time  afterwards, 
that  I  found  myself  at  the  same  port,  having  gone  thither- with 
the  view  of  embarking  for  the  port  of  Syra.  I  was  anxious  of 
course  to  elude  as  carefully  as  possible  the  quarantine  detention 
which  threatened  me  on  my  arrival,  and  hearing  that  the  Greek 
consul  had  a  brother  who  was  a  man  in  authority  at  Syra,  I  got 
myself  presented  to  the  former,  and  took'  the  liberty  of  asking 
him  to  give  me  such  a  letter  of  introduction  to  his  relative  at 
Syra,  as  might  possibly  have  the  effect  of  shortening  the  term 
of  my  quarantine,  he  acceded  to  this  request  with  the  utmost 
kindness  and  courtesy  ;  but  when  he  replied  to  my  thanks  by 
saying  that  "  in  serving  an  Englishman  he  was  doing  no  more 
than  his  strict  duty  commanded,"  not  even  my  gratitude  could 
prevent  me  from  calling  to  mind  his  treatment  of  the  poor  cap- 
tain  who  had  the  misfortune  of  not  being  alien  in  blood  to  his 
consul,  and  appointed  protector. 

I  think  that  the  change  which  has  taken  place  in  the  charac- 


CHAP,  v.]  INFIDEL  SMYRNA.  43 

ter  of  the  Greeks  has  been  occasioned,  in  great  measure,  by  the 
doctrines  and  practice  of  their  religion.  The  Greek  Church 
has  animated  the  Muscovite  peasant,  and  inspired  him  with 
hopes  and  ideas,  which,  however  humble,  are  still  better  than 
none  at  all ;  but  the  faith,  and  the  forms,  and  the  strange  eccle- 
siastical literature  which  act  so  advantageously  upon  the  mere 
clay  of  the  Russian  serf,  seem  to  hang  like  lead  upon  the 
ethereal  spirit  of  the  Greek.  Never,  in  any  part  of  the  world, 
have  I  seen  religious  performances  so  painful  to  witness  as  those 
of  the  Greeks.  The  horror,  however,  with  which  one  shudders 
at  their  worship,  is  attributable,  in  some  measure,  to  the  mere 
effect  of  costume.  In  all  the  Ottoman  dominions,  and  very  fre- 
quently too,  in  the  Kingdom  of  Otho,  the  Greeks  wear  turbans, 
or  other  head-dresses,  and  shave  their  heads,  leaving  only  a 
rat's-tail  at  the  crown  of  the  head ;  they  of  course  keep  them- 
selves covered  within  doors,  as  well  as  abroad,  and  never  remove 
their  head-gear,  merely  on  account  of  being  in  a  church :  but 
when  the  Greek  stops  to  worship  at  his  proper  shrine,  then,  and 
then  only,  he  always  uncovers ;  and  as  you  see  him  thus  with 
shaven  skull,  and  savage  tail  pending  from  his  crown,  kissing  a 
thing  of  wood  and  glass,  and  cringing  with  base  prostrations, 
and  apparent  terror,  before  a  miserable  picture,  you  see  super- 
stition in  a  shape,  which,  outwardly  at  least,  looks  sadly  abject, 
and  repulsive. 


The  fasts,  too,  of  the  Greek  Church,  produce  an  ill  effect  upon 
the  character  of  the  people,  for  they  are  carried  to  such  an  ex- 
tent, as  to  bring  about  a  bona  fide  mortification  of  the  flesh ;  the 
febrile  irritation  of  the  frame  operating  in  conjunction  with  the 
depression  of  spirits  occasioned  by  abstinence,  will  so  far  answer 


EOTHEN.  [CHAP.  v. 


the  objects  of  the  rite,  as  to  engender  some  religious  excitement, 
but  this  is  of  a  morbid  and  gloomy  character,  and  it  seems  to 
be  certain,  that  along  with  the  increase  of  sanctity,  there  comes 
a  fiercer  desire  for  the  perpetration  of  dark  crimes.  The  num. 
ber  of  murders  committed  during  Lent  is  greater,  I  am  told, 
than  at  any  other  time  of  the  year.  A  man  under  the  influence 
of  a  bean  dietary  (for  this  is  the  principal  food  of  the  Greeks 
during  their  fasts),  will  be  in  an  apt  humor  for  enriching  the 
shrine  of  his  Saint,  and  passing  a  knife  through  his  next  door 
neighbor.  The  moneys  deposited  upon  the  shrines  are  appro- 
priated by  priests ;  the  priests  are  married  men,  and  have  fami- 
lies to  provide  for ;  they  "  take  the  good  with  the  bad,"  and  con- 
tinue to  recommend  fasts. 

Then,  too,  the  Greek  Church  enjoins  her  followers  to  keep 
holy  such  a  vast  number  of  Saints'  days,  as  practically  to 
shorten  the  lives  of  the  people  very  materially.  I  believe  that 
one  third  out  of  the  number  of  days  in  the  year  are  "  kept  holy," 
or  rather,  kept  stupid,  in  honor  of  the  Saints ;  no  great  portion 
of  the  time  thus  set  apart  is  spent  in  religious  exercises, 
and  the  people  don't  betake  themselves  to  any  animating  pas- 
times, which  might  serve  to  strengthen  the  frame,  or  invigorate 
the  mind,  or  exalt  the  taste.  On  the  contrary,  the  Saints'  days 
of  the  Greeks  in  Smyrna,  are  passed  in  the  same  manner  as  the 
Sabbaths  of  well-behaved  Protestant  housemaids  in  London — 
that  is  to  say,  in  a  steady  and  serious  contemplation  of  street 
scenery.  The  men  perform  this  duty  at  the  doors  of  their 
houses, — the  women  at  the  windows,  which  the  custom  of  Greek 
towns  has  so  decidedly  appropriated  to  them  as  the  proper  station 
of  their  sex,  that  a  man  would  be  looked  upon  as  utterly  effemi- 
nate if  he  ventured  to  choose  that  situation  fdr  the  keeping  of 
the  Saints'  days.  I  was  present  one  day  at  a  treaty  for  the  hire 
of  some  apartments  at  Smyrna,  which  was  carried  on  between 
Carrigaholt,  and  the  Greek  woman  to  whom  the  rooms  belonged. 
Carrigaholt  objected  that  the  windows  commanded  no  view  of 
the  street :  immediately  the  brow  of  the  majestic  matron  was 
clouded,  and  with  all  the  scorn  of  a  Spartan  mother,  she  coolly 
asked  Carrigaholt  and  said,  "  Art  thou  a  tender  damsel  that 
thou  wouldest  sit,  and  gaze  from  windows  ?"  The  man  whom 


CHAP,  v.]  INFIDEL  SMYRNA.  45 

she  addressed,  however,  had  not  gone  to  Greece  with  any 
intention  of  placing  himself  under  the  laws  of  Lycurgus,  and 
was  not  to  be  diverted  from  his  views  by  a  Spartan  rebuke,  so 
he  took  care  to  find  himself  windows  after  his  own  heart,  and 
there,  I  believe,  for  many  a  month,  he  kept  the  Saints'  days, 
and  all  the  days  intervening,  after  the  fashion  of  Grecian 
women. 

Oh !  let  me  be  charitable  to  all  who  write,  and  to  all  who 
lecture,  and  to  all  who  preach,  since  even  I,  a  lay-man  not 
forced  to  write  at  all,  can  hardly  avoid  chiming  in  with  some 
tuneful  cant !  I  have  had  the  heart  to  talk  about  the  pernicious 
effects  of  the  Greek  holidays,  to  which  I  owe  some  of  my  most 
beautiful  visions  !  I  will  let  the  words  stand,  as  an  humbling 
proof  that  I  am  subject  to  that  immutable  law  which  compels  a 
man  with  a  pen  in  his  hand  to  be  uttering  every  now  and  then 
some  sentiment  not  his  own.  It  seems  as  though  the  power  of 
expressing  regrets  and  desires  by  written  symbols  were  coupled 
with  a  condition  that  the  writer  should  from  time  to  time  express 
the  regrets  and  desires  of  other  people — as  though,  like  a  French 
peasant  under  the  old  regime,  one  were  bound  to  perform  a  cer- 
tain amount  of  work  upon  the  public  highways.  I  rebel  as 
stoutly  as  I  can  against  this  horrible  corvee — I  try  not  to  deceive 
you — I  try  to  set  down  the  thoughts  which  are  fresh  within  me, 
and  not  to  pretend  any  wishes,  or  griefs,  which  I  do  not  really 
feel,  but  no  sooner  do  I  cease  from  watchfulness  in  this  regard, 
than  my  right  hand  is,  as  it  were,  seized  by  some  false  demon, 
and  even  now,  you  see,  I  have  been  forced  to  put  down  such 
words  and  sentences  as  I  ought  to  have  written  if  really  and 
truly  I  had  wished  to  disturb  the  Saints'  days  of  the  beautiful 
Smyrniotes  ! 

Which,  Heaven  forbid !  for  as  you  move  through  the  narrow 
streets  of  the  city,  at  these  times  of  festival,  the  transom-shaped 
windows  suspended  over  your  head,  on  either  side,  are  filled 
with  the  beautiful  descendants  of  the  old  Ionian  race ;  all  (even 
yonder  Empress  that  sits  throned  at  the  window  of  that  humblest 
mud  cottage)  are  attired  with  seeming  magnificence ;  their 
classic  heads  are  crowned  with  scarlet,  and  loaded  with  jewels, 


46  EOTHEN.  [CHAP.  v. 

or  coins  of  gold — the  whole  wealth  of  the  wearers  ;* — their 
features  are  touched  with  a  savage  pencil,  which  hardens  the 
outline  of  eyes  and  eye-brows  and  lends  an  unnatural  fire  to 
the  stern^  grave  looks,  with  which  they  pierce  your  brain. 
Endure  their  fiery  eyes  as  best  you  may,  and  ride  on  slowly 
and  reverently,  for  facing  you  from  the  side  of  the  transom,  that 
looks  long-wise  through  the  street,  you  see  the  one  glorious 
shape  transcendant  in  its  beauty  ;  you  see  the  massive  braid  of 
hair  as  it  catches  a  touch  of  light  on  its  jetty  surface — and  the 
broad,  calm,  angry  brow — the  large  black  eyes,  deep  set,  and 
self-relying  like  the  eyes  of  a  conqueror,  with  their  rich  shadows 
of  thought  lying  darkly  around  them, — you  see  the  thin  fiery 
nostril,  and  the  bold  line  of  the  chin  and  throat  disclosing  all 
the  fierceness,  and  all  the  pride,  passion,  and  power,  that  can 
live  along  with  the  rare  womanly  beauty  of  those  sweetly 
turned  lips.  But  then  there  is  a  terrible  stillness  in  this  breath- 
ing image ;  it  seems  like  the  stillness  of  a  savage  that  sits  in- 
tent, and  brooding  day  by  day,  upon  some  one  fearful  scheme 
of  vengeance,  but  yet  more  like  it  seems  to  the  stillness  of  an 
Immortal,  whose  will  must  be  known,  and  obeyed  without  sign 
or  speech.  Bow  down ! — Bow  down,  and  adore  the  young 
Persephone,  transcendant  Queen  of  Shades ! 

*  A  Greek  woman  wears  her  whole  fortune  upon  her  person,  in  the  shape 
of  jewels,  or  gold  coins ;  I  believe  that  this  mode  of  investment  is  adopted 
in  great  measure  for  safety's  sake.  It  has  the  advantage  of  enabling  a  suitor 
to  reckon,  as  well  as  to  admire  the  objects  of  his  affection. 


CHAP,  vi.]  GREEK  MARINERS.  47 


CHAPTER  VI. 

Greek  Mariners. 

I  SAILED  from  Smyrna  in  the  Amphitrite,  a  Greek  brigantine, 
which  was  confidently  said  to  be  bound  for  the  coast  of  Syria, 
but  I  knew  that  this  announcement  was  not  to  be  relied  upon 
with  positive  certainty,  for  the  Greek  mariners  are  practically 
free  from  the  stringency  of  ship's  papers,  and  where  they  will, 
there  they  go.  However,  I  had  the  whole  of  the  cabin  for  my- 
self, and  my  attendant,  Mysseri,  subject  only  to  the  society  of 
the  Captain  at  the  hour  of  dinner ;  being  at  ease  in  this  respect, 
being  furnished  too  with  plenty  of  books,  and  finding  an  unfail- 
ing source  of  interest  in  the  thorough  Greekness  of  my  Captain 
and  my  crew,  I  felt  less  anxious  than  most  people  would  have 
been  about  the  probable  length  of  the  cruise  ;  I  knew  enough  of 
Greek  navigation  to  be  sure  that  our  vessel  would  cling  to  Earth 
like  a  child  to  its  mother's  knee,  and  that  I  should  touch  at  many 
an  isle  before  I  set  foot  upon  the  Syrian  coast ;  but  I  had  no 
invidious  preference  for  Europe,  Asia,  or  Africa,  and  I  felt  that 
I  could  defy  the  winds  to  blow  me  upon  a  coast  that  was  blank, 
and  void  of  interest.  My  patience  was  extremely  useful  to  me, 
for  the  cruise  altogether  endured  some  forty  days,  and  that  in 
the  midst  of  winter. 

According  to  me,  the  most  interesting  of  all  the  Greeks  (male 
Greeks)  are  the  mariners,  because  their  pursuits  and  their  so- 
cial condition  are  so  nearly  the  same  as  those  of  their  glorious 
ancestors  j  you  will  say,  that  the  occupation  of  commerce  must 
have  smoothed  down  the  salience  of  their  minds,  and  this  would 
be  so  perhaps,  if  their  mercantile  affairs  were  conducted  accord- 
ing to  the  fixed  business-like  routine  of  Europeans ;  but  the 
ventures  of  the  Greeks  are  surrounded  by  such  a  multitude  of 
imagined  dangers,  and  (from  the  absence  of  regular  marts  in 


48  EOTHEN.  [CHAP.  vi. 

which  the  true  value  of  merchandize  can  be  ascertained)  are 
so  entirely  speculative,  and  besides,  are  conducted  in  a  manner 
so  wholly  determined  upon  by  the  wayward  fancies  and  wishes 
of  the  crew,  that  they  belong  to  Enterprise,  rather  than  to  in- 
dustry,  and  are  very  far  indeed  from  tending  to  deaden  any 
freshness  of  character. 

The  vessels  in  which  war  and  piradflr  were  carried  on  during 
the  years  of  the  Greek  Revolution,  became  merchantmen  at  the 
end  of  the  war — but  the  tactics  of  the  Greeks,  as  naval  war- 
riors, were  so  exceedingly  cautious,  and  their  habits,  as  commer- 
cial mariners,  are  so  wild,  that  the  change  has  been  more  slight 
than  you  might  imagine.  The  first  care  of  Greeks  (Greek 
Rayahs)  when  they  undertake  a  shipping  enterprise,  is  to  pro- 
cure for  their  vessel  the  protection  of  some  European  Power ; 
this  is  easily  managed  by  a  little  intriguing  with  the  Dragoman 
of  one  of  the  Embassies  at  Constantinople,  and  the  critffc  soon 
glories  in  the  ensign  of  Russia,  or  the  dazzling  Tricolor,  or  the 
Union  Jack  ;  thus,  to  the  great  delight  of  her  crew,  she  enters 
upon  the  ocean  world  with  a  flaring  lie  at  her  peak,  but  the 
appearance  of  the  vessel  does  no  discredit  to  the  borrowed  flag  ; 
she  is  frailer,  perhaps,  than  the  rest  of  her  sex,  but  she  does  not 
look  the  worse  for  this  in  harbor ;  she  is  gracefully  built,  and 
smartly  rigged ;  she  always  carries  guns,  and  in  short,  gives 
good  promise  of  mischief  and  speed. 

The  privileges  attached  to  the  vessel  "and  her  crew,  by  virtue 
of  the  borrowed  flag,  are  so  great  as  to  imply  a  degree  of  liberty, 
greater  than  that  which  is  enjoyed  by  individuals  in  our  more 
strictly  civilized  countries,  so  that  there  is  no  pretence  for  say- 
ing that  the  development  of  the  true  character  belonging  to 
Greek  mariners  is  prevented  by  the  dominion  of  the  Ottomans  ; 
they  are  free,  too,  from  the  power  of  the  great  capitalist  whose 
imperial  sway  is  more  withering  than  despotism  itself,  to  the 
enterprises  of  humble  adventurers.  The  capital  employed  is 
supplied  by  those  whose  labor  is  to  render  it  productive  ;  the 
crew  receive  no  wages,  but  have  all  a  share  in  the  venture,  and 
in  general,  I  believe,  they  are  the  owners  of  the  whole  freight ; 
they  choose  a  Captain  to  whom  they  entrust  just  power  enough 
to  keep  the  vessel  on  her  course  in  fine  weather,  but  not  quite 


CHAP,  vi.]  GREEK  MARINERS.  49 

enough  for  a  gale  of  wind  ;  they  also  elect  a  cook  and  a  mate  ; 
the  cook  whom  we  had  on  board  was  particularly  careful  about 
the  ship's  reckoning,  and  when,  under  the  influence  of  the  keen 
sea  breeze,  we  grew  fondly  expectant  of  an  instant  dinner,  the 
great  author  of  pilafs  would  be  standing  on  deck  with  an  ancient 
quadrant  in  his  hands,  calmly  affecting  to  take  an  observation. 
But  then  to  make  up  for  this,  the  Captain  would  be  exercising  a 
controlling  influence  over  the  soup,  so  that  all,  in  the  end,  went 
well.  Our  mate  was  a  Hydriot,  a  native  of  that  island  rock 
which  grows  nothing  but  mariners  and  mariners'  wives.  His 
character  seemed  to  be  exactly  that  which  is  generally  attribut- 
ed to  the  Hydriot  race  ;  he  was  fierce,  and  gloomy,  and  lonely 
in  his  ways.  One  of  his  principal  duties  seemed  to  be  that  of 
acting  as  counter-captain,  or  leader  of  the  opposition,  denounc- 
ing the  first  symptoms  of  tyranny,  and  protecting  even  the 
cabin-boy  from  oppression. — Besides  this,  when  things  went 
smoothly,  he  would  begin  to  prognosticate  evil,  in  order  that  his 
more  light-hearted  comrades  might  not  be  puffed  up  with  the 
seeming  good  fortune  of  the  moment. 

It  seemed  to  me  that  the  personal  freedom  of  these  sailors, 
who  own  no  superiors  except  those  of  their  own  choice,  is  as  like 
as  may  be  to  that  of  their  sea-faring  ancestors.  And  even  in 
their  mode  of  navigation  they  have  admitted  no  such  an  entire 
change  as  you  would  suppose  probable  ;  it  is  true  that  they 
have  so  far  availed  themselves  of  modern  discoveries  as  to  look 
to  the  compass  instead  of  the  stars,  and  that  they  have  supersed- 
ed the  immortal  Gods  of  their  forefathers  by  St.  Nicholas  in 
his  glass  case,*  but  they  are  not  yet  so  confident  either  in  their 
needle  or  their  Saint,  as  to  love  an  open  sea,  and  they  still  hug 
their  shores  as  fondly  as  the  Argonauts  of  old.  Indeed,  they 
have  a  most  unsailorlike  love  for  the  land,  and  I  really  believe 
that  in  a  gale  of  wind  they  would  rather  have  a  rock-bound 
coast  on  their  lee,  than  no  coast  at  all.  According  to  the 
notions  of  an  English  seaman,  this  kind  of  navigation  would 

*  St.  Nicholas  is  the  great  patron  of  Greek  sailors ;  a  small  picture  of 
him  enclosed  in  a  glass  case  is  hung  up  like  a  barometer  at  one  end  of  the 
cabin. 


GO  EOTHEN.  [CHAP.  vi. 

soon  bring  the  vessel  on  which  it  might  be  practised,  to  an  evil 
end.  The  Greek,  however,  is  unaccountably  successful  in 
escaping  the  consequences  of  being  "jammed  in,"  as  it  is 
called,  upon  a  lee  shore;  he  is  favored,  I  suppose,  by  the 
nature  of  the  coast  along  which  he  sails,  especially  those  of  the 
many  islands  through  which  he  threads  his  way  in  the  ^Egean, 
for  there  is  generally,  I  think,  deep  water  home  to  the  very 
cliffs,  and  besides  there  are  innumerable  coves  in  which  the 
dexterous  sailor,  who  knows  and  loves  the  land  so  well,  will 
contrive  to  find  a  shelter. 

These  seamen,  like  their  forefathers,  rely  upon  no  winds 
unless  they  are  right  a-stern,  or  on  the  quarter  ;  they  rarely  go 
on  a  wind  if  it  blows  at  all  fresh,  and  if  the  adverse  breeze  ap- 
proaches to  a  gale,  they  at  once  fumigate  St.  Nicholas,  and  put 
up  the  helm.  The  consequence,  of  course,  is,  that  under  the 
ever- vary  ing  winds  of  the  ^Egean  they  are  blown  about  in  the 
most  whimsical  manner.  I  used  to  think  that  Ulysses,  with  his 
ten  years'  voyage,  had  taken  his  time  in  making  Ithaca,  but  my 
experience  in  Greek  navigation  soon  made  me  understand  that 
he  had,  in  point  of  fact,  a  pretty  good  "  average  passage." 

Such  are  now  the  mariners  of  the  .<Egean  ;  free,  equal 
amongst  themselves,  navigating  the  seas  of  their  forefathers 
with  the  same  heroic,  and  yet  child-like  spirit  of  venture,  the 
same  half-trustful  reliance  upon  heavenly  aid,  they  are  the 
liveliest  images  of  true  old  Greeks  that  time  and  the  new 
religions  have  spared  to  us. 

With  one  exception,  our  crew  were  "  a  solemn  company,"  * 
and  yet,  sometimes,  when  all  things  went  well,  they  would  relax 
their  austerity,  and  show  a  disposition  to  fun,  or  rather  to  quiet 
humor ;  when  this  happened,  they  invariably  had  recourse  to 
one  of  their  number,  who  went  by  the  name  of  "Admiral 
Nicolou ;"  he  was  an  amusing  fellow,  the  poorest,  I  believe, 
and  the  least  thoughtful  of  the  crew,  but  full  of  rich  humor ; 
his  oft-told  story  of  the  events  by  which  he  had  gained  the 
sobriquet  of  "  Admiral,"  never  failed  to  delight  his  hearers,  and 
when  he  was  desired  to  repeat  it  for  my  benefit,  the  rest  of  the 

•Hanmer. 


CHAP,  vi.]  GREEK  MARINERS.  51 

crew  crowded  round  with  as  much  interest  as  if  they  were 
listening  to  the  tale  for  the  first  time.  A  number  of  Greek 
brigs  and  brigantines  were  at  anchor  in  the  bay  of  Beyrout ;  a 
festival  of  some  kind,  particularly  attractive  to  the  sailors,  was 
going  on  in  the  town,  and  whether  with  or  without  leave  I  know 
not,  but  the  crews  of  all  the  craft,  except  that  of  Nicolou,  had 
gone  ashore  ;  on  board  his  vessel,  however,  which  carried  dol- 
lars, there  was,  it  would  seem,  a  more  careful,  or  more  influen- 
tial Captain,  who  was  able  to  enforce  his  determination,  that  one 
man,  at  least,  should  be  left  on  board.  Nicolou's  good  nature 
was  with  him  so  powerful  an  impulse,  that  he  could  not  resist 
the  delight  of  volunteering  to  stay  with  the  vessel,  whilst  his 
comrades  went  ashore ;  his  proposal  was  accepted,  and  the 
crew  and  Captain  soon  left  him  alone  on  the  deck  of  his  vessel. 
The  sailors,  gathering  together  from  their  several  ships,  were 
amusing  themselves  in  the  town,  when  suddenly  there  came 
down  from  betwixt  the  mountains,  one  of  those  sudden  hurricanes 
which  sometimes  occur  in  southern  climes;  Nicolou's  vessel, 
together  with  four  of  the  craft  which  had  been  left  unmanned, 
broke  from  her  moorings,  and  all  five  of  the  vessels  were  car- 
ried out  seaward ;  the  town  is  on  a  salient  point  at  the  southern 
side  of  the  Bay,  so  that  "  the  Admiral"  was  close  under  the 
eyes  of  the  inhabitants,  and  the  shore-gone  sailors,  when  he  gal- 
lantly drifted  out  at  the  head  of  his  little  fleet ;  if  Nicolou 
could  not  entirely  control  the  manoeuvres  of  the  Squadron, 
there  was  at  least  no  human  power  to  divide  his  authority,  and 
thus  it  was  that  he  took  rank  as  "Admiral."  Nicolou  cut  his 
cable,  and  thus  for  the  time  saved  his  vessel ;  for  the  rest  of  the 
fleet,  under  his  command,  were  quickly  wrecked,  whilst  "the 
Admiral"  got  away  clear  to  the  open  sea.  The  violence  of  the 
squall  soon  passed  off,  but  Nicolou  felt  that  his  chance  of  one 
day  resigning  his  high  duties  as  an  admiral  for  the  enjoyments 
of  private  life  on  the  steadfast  shore,  mainly  depended  upon  his 
success  in  working  the  brig  with  his  own  hands,  so  after  calling 
on  his  namesake,  the  saint  (not  for  the  first  time,  I  take  it),  he 
got  up  some  canvass,  and  took  the  helm ;  he  became  equal,  he 
told  us,  to  a  score  of  Nicolous,  and  the  vessel,  as  he  said,  was 
"  manned  with  his  terrors."  For  two  days,  it  seems,  he  cruised 


52  EOTHEN.  [CHAP.  vi. 

at  large,  but  at  last,  either  by  his  seamanship,  or  by  the  natural 
instinct  of  the  Greek  mariners  for  finding  land,  he  brought  his 
craft  close  to  an  unknown  shore,  which  promised  well  for  his 
purpose  of  running  in  the  vessel,  and  he  was  preparing  to  give 
her  a  good  berth  on  the  beach,  when  he  saw  a  gang  of  ferocious 
looking  fellows  coming  down  to  the  point  for   which  he   was 
making.     Poor  Nicolou  was  a  perfectly  unlettered  and  untu- 
tored genius,  and  for  that  reason,  perhaps,  a  keen  listener  to 
tales  of  terror  ;  his  mind  had  been  impressed  with  some  horrible 
legend  of  cannibalism,  and  he  now  did  not  doubt  for  a  moment 
that  the  men  awaiting  him  on  the  beach  were  the  monsters  at 
whom  he  had  shuddered   in  the  days  of  his  childhood.     The 
coast  on  which  Nicolou  was  running  his  vessel,  was  somewhere, 
I  fancy,  at  the  foot  of  the  Anzairie  mountains,  and  the  fellows 
who  were  preparing  to  give  him  a  reception  were  probably  very 
rough  specimens  of  humanity  ;  it  is  likely  enough   that  they 
may  have  given  themselves  the  trouble  of  putting  "  the  Admi- 
ral" to  death,  for  the  purpose  of  simplifying  their  claim  to  the 
vessel,  and  preventing  litigation,  but  the  notion  of  their  cannibal- 
ism was  of  course   utterly  unfounded;  Nicolou's    terror  had, 
however,  so  graven  the  idea  on  his  mind,  that  he  could  never 
afterwards  dismiss  it.     Having  once  determined  the  character 
of  his  expectant  hosts,  the  Admiral  naturally  thought  that  it 
would  be  better  to  keep  their  dinner  waiting  any  length  of  time, 
than  to  attend  their  feast  in  the  character  of  a  roasted  Greek,  so 
he  put  about  his  vessel,  and  tempted  the  deep  once  more.     After 
a  farther  cruise  the  lonely  commander  ran  his  vessel  upon  some 
rocks  at  another  part  of  the  coast,  where  she  was  lost  with  all 
her  treasure,  and  Nicolou  was  but  too  glad  to  scramble  ashore, 
though  without  one  dollar  in  his  girdle.     These  adventures  seem 
flat  enough  as  I  repeat  them,  but  the  'hero  expressed  his  terrors 
by  such  odd  terms  of  speech,  and  such  strangely  humorous  ges- 
tures, that  the  story  came  from  his  lips  with  an  unfailing  zest,  so 
that  the  crew  who  had  heard  the  tale  so  often,  could  still  enjoy 
to  their  hearts  the  rich  fright  of  the  Admiral,  and  still  shuddered 
with  unabated  horror  when  he  came  to  the  loss  of  the  dollars. 

The  power  of  listening  to  long  stories  (for  which  by  the  bye  I 
am  giving  you  large  credit)  is  common  I  fancy  to  most  sailors, 


CHAP,  vi.]  GREEK  MARINERS.  53 

and  the  Greeks  have  it  to  a  great  degree,  for  they  can  be  per- 
fectly patient  under  a  narrative  of  two  or  three  hours'  duration. 
These  long  stories  are  mostly  founded  upon  Oriental  topics,  and 
in  one  of  them  I  recognized  with  some  alterations  an  old  friend 
of  the  "Arabian  Nights;"  I  inquired  as  to  the  source  from 
which  the  story  had  been  derived,  and  the  crew  all  agreed  that 
it  had  been  handed  down  unwritten  from  Greek  to  Greek ;  their 
account  of  the  matter  does  not,  perhaps,  go  very  far  towards 
showing  the  real  origin  of  the  tale,  but  when  I  afterwards  took 
up  the  "  Arabian  Nights,"  I  became  strongly  impressed  with  a 
notion  that  they  must  have  sprung  from  the  brain  of  a  Greek. 
It  seems  to  me  that  these  stories,  whilst  they  disclose  a  complete 
and  habitual  knowledge  of  things  Asiatic,  have  about  them  so 
much  of  freshness  and  life,  so  much  of  the  stirring  and  volatile 
European  character,  that  they  cannot  have  owed  their  concep- 
tion to  a  mere  Oriental,  who,  for  creative  purposes,  is  a  thing 
dead  and  dry — a  mental  mummy  that  may  have  been  a  live 
King  just  after  the  flood,  but  has  since  lain  balmed  in  spice. 
At  the  time  of  the  Caliphat  the  Greek  race  was  familiar  enough 
to  Bagdad ;  they  were  the  merchants,  the  pedlars,  the  barbers, 
and  intriguers-general  of  South-western  Asia,  and  therefore  the 
Oriental  materials  with  which  the  Arabian  tales  are  wrought, 
must  have  been  completely  at  the  command  of  the  inventive 
people  to  whom  I  would  attribute  their  origin. 

We  were  nearing  the  -isle  of  Cyprus,  when  there  arose  half  a 
gale  of  wind,  with  a  heavy,  chopping  sea ;  my  Greek  seamen 
considered  that  the  weather  amounted  not  to  a  half,  but  to  an 
integral  gale  of  wind  at  the  very  least,  so  they  put  up  the  helm, 
and  scudded  for  twenty  hours ;  when  we  neared  the  main  land 
of  Anadoli,  the  gale  ceased,  and  a  favorable  breeze  sprang  up, 
which  brought  us  off  Cyprus  once  more.  Afterwards  the  wind 
changed  again,  but  we  were  still  able  to  lay  our  course  by  sail- 
ing close-hauled. 

We  were,  at  length,  in  such  a  position,  that  by  holding  on  our 
course  for  about  half  an  hour,  we  should  get  under  the  lee  of 
the  island,  and  find  ourselves  in  smooth  water,  but  the  wind  had 
been  gradually  freshening ;  it  now  blew  hard,  and  there  was  a 
heavy  sea  running. 


54  EOTHEN.  [CHAP.  vi. 

As  the  grounds  for  alarm  arose,  the  crew  gathered  together  in 
one  close  group ;  they  stood  pale  and  grim  under  their  hooded 
capotes  like  monks  awaiting  a  massacre,  anxiously  looking  by 
turns  along  the  pathway  of  the  storm,  and  then  upon  each  other, 
and  then  upon  the  eye  of  the  Captain  who  stood  by  the  helms- 
man. Presently  the  Hydriot  came  aft,  more  moody  than  ever, 
the  bearer  of  fierce  remonstrance  against  the  continuing  of 
the  struggle ;  he  received  a  resolute  answer,  and  still  we  held 
our  course.  Soon  there  came  a  heavy  sea,  that  caught  the  bow 
of  the  brigantine  as  she  lay  jammed  in  betwixt  the  waves;  she 
bowed  her  head  low  under  the  waters,  and  shuddered  through 
all  her  timbers — then  gallantly  stood  up  again  over  the  striving 
sea,  with  bowsprit  entire.  But  where  were  the  crew  ?  It  was 
a  crew  no  longer,  but  rather  a  gathering  of  Greek  citizens ; — 
the  shout  of  the  seaman  was  changed  for  the  murmuring  of  the 
people — the  spirit  of  the  old  Demos  was  alive.  The  men  came 
aft  in  a  body,  and  loudly  asked  that  the  vessel  should  be  put 
about,  and  that  the  storm  be  no  longer  tempted.  Now,  then,  for 
speeches  : — the  Captain,  his  eyes  flashing  fire,  his  frame  all 
quivering  with  emotion — wielding  his  every  limb,  like  another, 
and  a  louder  voice,  pours  forth  the  eloquent  torrent  of  his 
threats,  and  his  reasons,  his  commands,  and  his  prayers ;  he 
promises — he  vows — he  swears  that  there  is  safety  in  holding 
on — safety,  if  Greeks  will  be  brave  !  The  men  hear,  and  are 
moved,  but  the  gale  rouses  itself  once  more,  and  again  the 
raging  sea  comes  trampling  over  the  timbers  that  are  the  life  of 
all.  The  fierce  Hydriot  advances  one  step  more  near  to  the 
Captain,  and  the  angry  growl  of  the  people  goes  floating  down 
the  wind,  but  they  listen — they  waver  once  more,  and  once 
more  resolve,  then  waver  again,  thus  doubtfully  hanging  be- 
tween the  terrors  of  the  storm,  and  the  persuasion  of  glorious 
speech,  as  though  it  were  the  Athenian  that  talked,  and  Philip 
of  Macedon  that  thundered  on  the  weather  bow. 

Brave  thoughts  winged  on  Grecian  words  gained  their  natural 
mastery  over  Terror;  the  brigantine  held  on  her  course,  and 
reached  smooth  water  at  last.  I  landed  at  Limesol,  the  west- 
ernmost  port  of  Cyprus,  leaving  the  vessel  to  sail  for  Larnecca, 
where  she  was  to  remain  for  some  days. 


CHAP,  vii.]  CYPRUS.  55 


CHAPTER  VII. 

Cyprus. 

THERE  was  a  Greek  at  Limesol,  who  hoisted  his  flag  as  an  Eng- 
lish Vice-Consul,  and  he  insisted  upon  my  accepting  his  hospi- 
tality ;  with  some  difficulty,  and  chiefly  by  assuring  him  that  I 
could  not  delay  my  departure  beyond  an  early  hour  in  the  after- 
noon, I  induced  him  to  allow  my  dining  with  his  family,  instead 
of  banqueting  all  alone  with  the  representative  of  my  sovereign, 
in  consular  state  and  dignity  ;  the  lady  of  the  house,  it  seemed, 
had  never  sat  at  table  with  an  European  j  she  was  very  shy 
about  the  matter,  and  tried  hard  to  get  out  of  the  scrape,  but 
the  husband,  I  fancy,  reminded  her,  that  she  was  theoretically 
an  English- woman  by  virtue  of  the  flag  which  waved  over  her 
roof,  and  that  she  was  bound  to  show  her  nationality  by  sitting 
at  meat  with  me  ;  finding  herself  inexorably  condemned  to  bear 
with  the  dreaded  gaze  of  European  eyes,  she  tried  to  save  her 
innocent  children  from  the  hard  fate  which  awaited  herself,  but 
I  obtained  that  all  of  them  (and  I  think  there  were  four  or  five) 
should  sit  at  the  table.  You  will  meet  with  abundance  of 
stately  receptions,  and  of  generous  hospitality,  too,  in  the  East, 
but  rarely,  very  rarely  in  those  regions  (or  even,  so  far  as  I 
know,  in  any  part  of  southern  Europe),  does  one  gain  an  oppor- 
tunity of  seeing  the  familiar  and  indoor  life  of  the  people. 

This  family  party  of  the  good  consul's  (or  rather  of  mine, 
for  I  originated  the  idea,  though  he  furnished  the  materials) 
went  off  very  well ;  the  mamma  was  shy  at  first,  but  she  veiled 
the  awkwardness  which  she  felt  by  affecting  to  scold  her  chil- 
dren, who  had  all  of  them,  I  think,  immortal  names — names, 
too,  which  they  owed  to  tradition,  and  certainly  not  to  any  clas- 
sical enthusiasm  of  their  parents ;  every  instant  I  was  delighted 
by  some  such  phrases  as  these — "  Themistocles,  my  love,  don't 


56  EOTHEN.  [CHAP.  vn. 

fight," — "  Alcibiades,  can't  you  sit  still  ?" — "  Socrates,  put 
down  the  cup." — "  Oh,  fie !  Aspasia,  don't,  Oh !  don't  be 
naughty !"  It  is  true  that  the  names  were  pronounced,  Socrah- 
tie,  Aspahsie — that  is,  according  to  accent,  and  not  according 
to  quantity,  but  I  suppose  it  is  scarcely  now  to  be  doubted  that 
they  were  so  sounded  in  ancient  times. 

To  me  it  seems,  that  of  all  the  lands  I  know  (you  will  see  in 
a  minute  how  I  connect  this  piece  of  prose  with  the  Isle  of  Cy- 
prus), there  is  none  in  which  mere  wealth — mere  unaided 
wealth,  is  held  half  so  cheaply — none  in  which  a  poor  devil  of 
a  millionaire  without  birth,  or  ability,  occupies  so  humble  a 
place  as  in  England.  My  Greek  host  and  I  were  sitting  to- 
gether, I  think  upon  the  roof  of  the  house  (for  that  is  the  loung- 
ing place  in  Eastern  climes),  when  the  former  assumed  a  seri- 
ous air,  and  intimated  a  wish  to  converse  upon  the  subject  of 
the  British  Constitution,  with  which  he  assured  me  that  he  was 
thoroughly  acquainted  ;  he  presently,  however,  informed  me 
that  there  was  one  anomalous  circumstance  attendant  upon  the 
practical  working  of  our  political  system  which  he  had  never 
been  able  to  hear  explained  in  a  manner  satisfactory  to  him- 
self. From  the  fact  of  his  having  found  a  difficulty  in  his  sub- 
ject, I  began  to  think  that  my  host  might  really  know  rather 
more  of  it  than  his  announcement  of  a  thorough  knowledge  had 
led  me  to  expect ;  I  felt  interested  at  being  about  to  hear  from 
the  lips  of  an  intelligent  Greek,  quite  remote  from  the  influence 
of  European  opinions,  what  might  seem  to  him  the  most  aston- 
ishing and  incomprehensible  of  all  those  results  which  have 
followed  from  the  action  of  our  political  institutions.  The  ano- 
maly— the  only  anomaly  which  had  been  detected  by  the  vice- 
consular  wisdom,  consisted  in  the  fact,  that  Rothschild  (the  late 
money-monger)  had  never  been  the  Prime  Minister  of  England  ! 
I  gravely  tried  to  throw  some  light  upon  the  mysterious  causes 
which  had  kept  the  worthy  Israelite  out  of  the  Cabinet,  but  I 
think  I  could  see  that  my  explanation  was  not  satisfactory.  Go 
and  argue  with  the  flies  of  summer,  that  there  is  a  Power  divine, 
yet  greater  than  the  Sun  in  the  heavens,  but  never  dare  hope  to 
convince  the  people  of  the  South  that  there  is  any  other  God 
than  Gold. 


CHAP,  vii.]  CYPRUS.  57 

My  intended  journey  was  to  the  site  of  the  Paphian  temple. 
I  take  no  antiquarian  interest  in  ruins,  and  care  little  about 
them,  unless  they  are  either  striking  in  themselves,  or  else 
serve  to  mark  some  spot  on  which  my  fancy  loves  to  dwell.  I 
knew  that  the  ruins  of  Paphos  were  scarcely,  if  at  all,  discerni- 
ble, but  there  was  a  will,  and  a  longing,  more  imperious  than 
mere  curiosity,  that%lrove  me  thither. 

For  this,  just  then,  was  my  Pagan  soul's  desire — that  (not 
forfeiting  my  Christian's  inheritance  for  the  life  to  come),  it 
were  yet  given  me  to  live  through  this  world — to  live  a  favored 
mortal  under  the  old  Olympian  dispensation — to  speak  out  my 
resolves  to  the  listening  Jove,  and  hear  him  answer  with 
approving  thunder — to  be  blessed  with  divine  counsels  from  the 
lips  of  Pallas  Athenie — to  believe — aye,  only  to  believe — to 
believe  for  one  rapturous  moment  that  in  the  gloomy  depths  of 
the  grove,  by  the  mountain's  side,  there  were  some  leafy  path- 
way that  crisped  beneath  the  glowing  sandal  of  Aphrodetie — 
Aphrodetie,  not  coldly  disdainful  of  even  a  mortal's  love  !  And 
this  vain,  heathenish  longing  of  mine  was  father  to  the  thought 
of  visiting  the  scene  of  the  ancient  worship. 

The  isle  is  beautiful ;  from  the  edge  of  the  rich,  flowery  fields 
on  which  I  trod,  to  the  midway  sides  of  the  snowy  Olympus,  the 
ground  could  only  here  and  there  show  an  abrupt  crag,  or  a 
high,  straggling  ridge,  that  up-shouldered  itself  from  out  of  the 
wilderness  of  myrtles,  and  of  the  thousand  bright-leaved  shrubs 
that  twined  their  arm's  together  in  lovesome  tangles.  The  air 
that  came  to  my  lips  was  warm,  and  fragrant  as  the  ambrosial 
breath  of  the  goddess,  infecting  me — not  (of  course)  with  a 
faith  in  the  old  religion  of  the  isle,  but  with  a  sense,  and  appre- 
hension of  its  mystic  power — a  power  that  was  still  to  be  obeyed 
—obeyed  by  me,  for  why  otherwise  did  I  toil  on  with  sorry 
horses  to  "  where,  for  HER,  the  hundred  altars  glowed  with 
Arabian  incense,  and  breathed  with  the  fragrance  of  garlands 
ever  fresh?"* 

.     .     .     ubi  templum  illi,  centumque  Sabaeo 
Thure  calent  arae,  sertisque  recentibus  halant. 

415. 


58  EOTHEN.  [CHAP.  vu. 

I  passed  a  sadly  disenchanting  night  in  the  cabin  of  a  Greek 
priest — not  a  priest  of  the  Goddess,  but  of  the  Greek  church — 
there  was  but  one  humble  room,  or  rather  shed,  for  man,  and 
priest,  and  beast.  The  next  morning  I  reached  Baffa  (Paphos), 
which  is  not  far  distant  from  the  site  of  the  temple  ;  there  was 
a  Greek  husbandman  there  who  (not  for  emolument,  but  for  the 
sake  of  the  protection  and  dignity  which  *it  afforded)  had  got 
leave  from  the  man  at  Limesol  to  hoist  his  flag  as  a  sort  of 
Deputy-provisionary-sub-vice-pro-acting  Pro-consul  of  the  Brit- 
ish Sovereign ;  the  poor  fellow  instantly  changed  his  Greek 
head-gear  for  the  cap  of  consular  dignity,  and  insisted  upon 
accompanying  me  to  the  ruins ;  I  would  not  have  stood  this,  if 
I  could  have  felt  the  faintest  gleam  of  my  yesterday's  pagan 
piety,  but  I  had  ceased  to  dream,  and  had  nothing  to  dread  from 
any  new  disenchanters. 

The  ruins  (the  fragments  of  one  or  two  prostrate  pillars)  stand 
upon  a  promontory,  bare,  and  unmystified  by  the  gloom  of  sur- 
rounding groves  ;  my  Greek  friend  in  his  consular-cap  stood  by, 
respectfully  waiting  to  see  what  turn  my  madness  would  take, 
now  that  I  had  come  at  last  into  the  presence  of  the  old  stones. 
If  you  have  no  taste  for  research,  and  can't  affect  to  look  for 
inscriptions,  there  is  some  awkwardness  in  coming  to  the  end  of 
a  merely  sentimental  pilgrimage,  when  the  feeling,  which  im- 
pelled you,  has  gone  ;  you  have  nothing  to  do  but  to  laugh  the 
thing  off  as  well  as  you  can,  and  by  the  by,  it  is  not  a  bad  plan 
to  turn  the  conversation  (or  rather  allow  The  natives  to  turn  it) 
towards  the  subject  of  hidden  treasures  ;  this  is  a  topic  on  which 
they  will  always  speak  with  eagerness,  and  if  they  can  fancy 
that  you,  too,  take  an  interest  in  such  matters,  they  will  not 
only  think  you  perfectly  sane,  but  will  begin  to  give  you  credit 
for  some  more  than  human  powers  of  forcing  the  obscure  earth 
to  show  you  its  hoards  of  gold. 

When  we  returned  to  Baffa,  the  Pro-consul  seized  a  club, 
with  the  quietly  determined  air  of  a  brave  man,  resolved  to  do 
some  deed  of  note ;  he  went  into  the  yard  adjoining  his  cottage, 
where  there  were  some  thin,  thoughtful,  canting  cocks,  and 
serious  low-church-looking  hens,  respectfully  listening,  and 


CHAP,  vii.]  CYPRUS.  59 

chickens  of  tender  years  so  well  brought  up  as  scarcely  to 
betray  in  their  conduct  the  careless  levity  of  youth.  The  Pro- 
consul  stood  for  a  moment  quite  calm — collecting  his  strength ; 
then  suddenly  he  rushed  into  the  midst  of  the  congregation,  and 
began  to  deal  death  and  destruction  on  all  sides ;  he  spared 
neither  sex  nor  age  ;  the  dead  and  dying  were  immediately 
removed  from  the  field  of  slaughter,  and  in  less  than  an  hour, 
I  think,  they  were  brought  to  the  table,  deeply  buried  in  mounds 
of  snowy  rice. 

My  host  was  in  all  respects  a  fine,  generous  fellow  ;  I  could 
not  bear  the  idea  of  impoverishing  him  by  my  visit,  and  I  con- 
sulted my  faithful  Mysseri,  who  not  only  assured  me  that  I 
might  safely  offer  money  to  the  Pro-consul,  but  recommended 
that  I  should  give  no  more  to  him  than  to  "  the  others,"  mean- 
ing any  other  peasant ;  I  felt,  however,  that  there  was  some- 
thing about  the  man,  besides  the  flag  and  the  cap,  which  made 
me  shrink  from  offering  coin,  and  as  I  mounted  my  horse  on 
departing,  I  gave  him  the  only  thing  fit  for  a  present  which  I 
happened  to  have  with  me,  a  rather  handsome  clasp-dagger, 
which  I  had  brought  from  Vienna ;  the  poor  fellow  was  ineffa- 
bly grateful,  and  I  had  some  difficulty  in  tearing  myself  from 
out  of  the  reach  of  his  thanks ;  at  last  I  gave  him  what  I  sup- 
posed to  be  the  last  farewell,  and  rode  on,  but  I  had  not  gained 
more  than  about  a  hundred  yards,  when  my  host  came  bounding 
and  shouting  after  me,  with  a  goat's  milk  cheese  in  his  hand, 
which  he  implored  me  to  accept.  In  old  times  the  shepherd  of 
Theocritus,  or  (to  speak  less  dishonestly)  the  shepherd  of  the 
"  Poetse  Grseci,"  sung  his  best  song ;  I,  in  this  latter  age,  pre- 
sented my  best  dagger,  and  both  of  us  received  the  same  rustic 
reward. 

It  had  been  known  that  I  should  return  to  Limesol,  and  when 
I  arrived  there  I  found  that  a  noble  old  Greek  had  been  hospita- 
bly plotting  to  have  me  for  his  guest ;  I  willingly  accepted  his 
offer.  The  day  of  my  arrival  happened  to  be  the  birth-day  of 
my  host,  and  in  consequence  of  this  there  was  a  constant  influx 
of  visitors  who  came  to  offer  their  congratulations  ;  a  few  of 
these  were  men,  but  most  of  them  were  young,  graceful  girls  ; 


EOTHEN.  [CHAP.  vu. 


almost  all  of  them  went  through  the  ceremony  with  the  utmost 
precision  and  formality ;  each  in  succession  spoke  her  blessing, 
in  the  tone  of  a  person  repeating  a  set  formula — then  deferen- 
tially accepted  the  invitation  to  sit — partook  of  the  proffered 
sweetmeats,  and  the  cold,  glittering  water — remained  for  a  few 
minutes  either  in  silence,  or  engaged  in  very  thin  conversation — 
then  arose,  delivered  a  second  benediction  followed  by  an  elabo- 
rate farewell,  and  departed. 

The  bewitching  power  attributed  at  this  day  to  the  women  of 
Cyprus,  is  curious  in  connection  with  the  worship  of  the  sweet 
goddess  who  called  their  isle  her  own  ;  the  Cypriote  is  not,  I 
think,  nearly  so  beautiful  in  face  as  the  Ionian  queens  of  Izmir, 
but  she  is  tall,  and  slightly  formed — there  is  a  high-souled  mean- 
ing and  expression — a  seeming  consciousness  of  gentle  empire 
that  speaks  in  the  wavy  lines  of  the  shoulder,  and  winds  itself 
like  Cytherea's  own  cestus  around  the  slender  waist — then  the 
richly  abounding  hair  (not  enviously  gathered  together  under 
the  head-dress)  descends  the  neck,  and  passes  the  waist  in  sump- 
tuous braids  ;  of  all  other  women  with  Grecian  blood  in  their 
veins,  the  costume  is  graciously  beautiful,  but  these,  the 
maidens  of  Limesol — their  robes  are  more  gently,  more  sweetly 
imagined,  and  fall  like  Julia's  Cashmere  in  soft,  luxurious  folds. 
The  common  voice  of  the  Levant  allows  that  in  face  the  women 
of  Cyprus  are  less  beautiful  than  their  brilliant  sisters  of  Smyrna, 
and  yet,  says  the  Greek,  he  may  trust  himself  to  one  and  all  of 
the  bright  cities  of  the  ^Egean,  and  may  yet  weigh  anchor  with 
a  heart  entire,  but  that  so  surely  as  he  ventures  upon  the 
enchanted  Isle  of  Cyprus,  so  surely  will  he  know  the  rapture,  or 
the  bitterness  of  Love.  The  charm,  they  say,  owes  its  power  to 
that  which  the  people  call  the  astonishing  "  politics  "  (^Xt™*)  of 
the  women,  meaning,  I  fancy,  their  tact,  and  their  witching 
ways  ;  the  word,  however,  plainly  fails  to  express  one  half  of 
that  which  the  speakers  would  say ;  I  have  smiled  to  hear  the 
Greek,  with  all  his  plenteousness  of  fancy,  and  all  the  wealth  of 
his  generous  language,  yet  vainly  struggling  to  describe  the 
ineffable  spell  which  the  Parisians  dispose  of  in  their  own  smart 
way,  by  a  summary  "  Je  ne  sqai  quoi." 


CHAP,  vii.]  CYPRUS.  61 

I  went  to  Larnecca,  the  chief  city  of  the  isle,  and  over  the 
water  at  last  to  Beyrout. 

%*  The  writer  takes  leave  to  suggest  that  none  should  attempt  to  read  the 
following  account  of  the  late  Lady  Hester  Stanhope,  except  those  who  may 
already  chance  to  feel  an  interest  in  the  personage  to  whom  it  relates.  The 
chapter  (which  has  been  written  and  printed  for  the  reasons  mentioned  in 
the  preface)  is  chiefly  filled  with  the  detailed  conversation,  or  rather  dis- 
course of  a  highly  eccentric  gentlewoman. 


62  EOTHEN.  [CHAP.  via. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

Lady  Hester  Stanhope. 

BEYEOUT  on  its  land  side  is  hemmed  in  by  the  Druses,  who 
occupy  all  the  neighbouring  highlands. 

Often  enough  I  saw  the  ghostly  images  of  the  women  with 
their  exalted  horns  stalking  through  the  streets,  and  I  saw  too,  in 
travelling,  the  affrighted  groups  of  the  mountaineers  as  they  fled 
before  me,  under  the  fear  that  my  party  might  be  a  company  of 
Income-tax  commissioners,  or  a  press-gang  enforcing  the  con- 
scription for  Mehemet  Ali,  but  nearly  all  my  knowledge  of  the 
people,  except  in  regard  of  their  mere  costume,  and  outward 
appearance,  is  drawn  from  books,  and  despatches,  to  which  I 
have  the  honor  to  refer  you. 

I  received  hospitable  welcome  at  Beyrout,  from  the  Europeans, 
as  well  as  from  the  Syrian  Christians,  and  I  soon  discovered  that 
their  standing  topic  of  interest  was  the  Lady  Hester  Stanhope, 
who  lived  in  an  old  convent  on  the  Lebanon  range,  at  the  dis- 
tance of  about  a  day's  journey  from  the  town.  The  lady's  habit 
of  refusing  to  see  Europeans  added  the  charm  of  mystery  to  a 
character,  which,  even  without  that  aid,  was  sufficiently  distin- 
guished to  command  attention. 

Many  years  of  Lady  Hester's  early  womanhood  had  been 
passed  with  Lady  Chatham  at  Burton  Pynsent,  and  during  that 
inglorious  period  of  the  heroine's  life,  her  commanding  charac- 
ter, and  (as  they  would  have  called  it,  in  the  language  of  those 
days),  her  "  condescending  kindness "  towards  my  mother's 
family,  had  increased  in  them  those  strong  feelings  of  respect 
and  attachment,  which  her  rank  and  station  alone  would  have 
easily  won  from  people  of  the  middle  class.  You  may  suppose 
how  deeply  the  quiet  women  in  Somersetshire  must  have  been 
interested,  when  they  slowly  learned  by  vague  and  uncertain 


CHAP,  viii.]  LADY  HESTER  STANHOPE.  63 

tidings  that  the  intrepid  girl  who  had  been  used  to  break  their 
vicious  horses  for  them,  was  reigning  in  sovereignty  over  the 
wandering  tribes  of  Western  Asia  !  I  know  that  her  name  was 
made  almost  as  familiar  to  me  in  my  childhood  as  the  name  of 
Robinson  Crusoe  ;  both  were  associated  with  the  spirit  of  adven- 
ture, but  whilst  the  imagined  life  of  the  cast-away  mariner  never 
failed  to  seem  glaringly  real,  the  true  ,story  of  the  English- 
woman ruling  over  Arabs  always  sounded  to  me  like  fable.  I 
never  had  heard,  nor  indeed,  I  believe,  had  the  rest  of  the  world 
ever  heard  anything  like  a  certain  account  of  the  Heroine's 
adventures ;  all  I  know  was,  that  in  one  of  the  drawers  which 
were  the  delight  of  my  childhood,  along  with  atta  of  roses,  and 
fragrant  wonders  from  Hindostan,  there  were  letters  carefully 
treasured,  and  trifling  presents  which  I  was  taught  to  think  val- 
uable because  they  had  come  from  the  Queen  of  the  Desert,  who 
dwelt  in  tents,  and  reigned  over  wandering  Arabs. 

The  subject,  however,  died  away,  and  from  the  ending  of  my 
childhood  up  to  the  period  of  my  arrival  in  the  Levant,  I  had 
seldom  even  heard  a  mentioning  of  the  Lady  Hester  Stanhope, 
but  now  wherever  I  went,  I  was  met  with  the  name  so  familiar 
in  sound,  and  yet  so  full  of  mystery  from  the  vague,  fairy-tale 
sort  of  idea  which  it  brought  to  my  mind ;  I  heard  it  too  con- 
nected with  fresh  wonders,  for  it  was  said  that  the  woman  was 
now  acknowledged  as  an  inspired  being  by  the  people  of  the 
Mountains,  and  it  was  even  hinted  with  horror  that  she  claimed 
to  be  more  than  a  prophet. 

I  felt  at  once  that  my  mother  would  be  sadly  sorry  to  hear 
that  I  had  been  within  a  day's  ride  of  her  early  friend  without 
offering  to  see  her,  and  I  therefore  despatched  a  letter  to  the 
Recluse,  mentioning  the  maiden  name  of  my  mother  (whose 
marriage  was  subsequent  to  Lady  Hester's  departure),  and  say- 
ing that  if  there  existed  on  the  part  of  her  Ladyship  any  wish  to 
hear  of  her  old  Somersetshire  acquaintance,  I  should  make  a 
point  of  visiting  her.  My  letter  was  sent  by  a  foot  messenger 
who  was  to  take  an  unlimited  time  for  his  journey,  so  that  it 
was  not,  I  think,  until  either  the  third  or  the  fourth  day  that  the 
answer  arrived.  A  couple  of  horsemen  covered  with  mud  sud- 
denly dashed  into  the  little  court  of  the  "  Locanda,"  in  which  I 


EOTHEN.  [CHAP.  vm. 


was  staying,  bearing  themselves  as  ostentatiously  as  though 
they  were  carrying  a  cartel  from  the  Devil  to  the  Angel 
Michael ;  one  of  these  (the  other  being  his  attendant)  was  an 
Italian  by  birth  (though  now  completely  orientalized),  who  lived 
in  my  Lady's  establishment  as  a  Doctor  nominally,  but  practi- 
cally as  an  upper  servant ;  he  presented  me  a  very  kind  and 
appropriate  letter  of  invitation. 

It  happened  that  I  was  rather  unwell  at  this  time,  so  that  I 
named  a  more  distant  day  for  my  visit  than  I  should  otherwise 
have  done,  and  after  all,  I  did  not  start  at  the  time  fixed  ;  whilst 
still  remaining  at  Beyrout  I  received  this  letter,  which  certainly 
betrays  no  symptom  of  the  pretensions  to  Divine  power,  which 
were  popularly  attributed  to  the  writer  : — 

"  SIR, — I  hope  I  shall  be  disappointed  in  seeing  you  on  Wednesday,  for 
the  late  rains  have  rendered  the  River  Damoor  if  not  dangerous,  at  least, 
very  unpleasant  to  pass  for  a  person  who  has  been  lately  indisposed,  for  if 
the  animal  swims,  you  would  be  immerged  in  the  waters.  The  weather 
will  probably  change  after  the  21st  of  the  moon,  and  after  a  couple  of  days 
the  roads  and  the  river  will  be  passable,  therefore  I  shall  expect  you  either 
Saturday  or  Monday. 

"  It  will  be  a  great  satisfaction  to  me  to  have  an  opportunity  of  inquiring 
after  your  mother,  who  was  a  sweet,  lovely  girl  when  I  knew  her. 
Believe  me,  Sir, 

Yours  sincerely, 

HESTER  LUCY  STANHOPE." 

Early  one  morning  I  started  from  Beyrout.  There  are  no 
regularly  established  relays  of  horses  in  Syria,  at  least  not  in 
the  line  which  I  took,  and  you  therefore  hire  your  cattle  for  the 
whole  journey,  or,  at  all  events,  for  your  journey  to  some  large 
town.  Under  these  circumstances  you  have  no  occasion  for  a 
Tatar  (whose  principal  utility  consists  in  his  power  to  compel 
the  supply  of  horses).  In  other  respects,  the  mode  of  travelling 
through  Syria  differs  very  little  from  that  which  I  have  de- 
scribed as  prevailing  in  Turkey.  I  hired  my  horses  and  mules 
(for  I  had  some  of  both)  for  the  whole  of  the  journey  from  Bey- 
rout to  Jerusalem ;  the  owner  of  the  beasts  (who  had  a  couple 
of  fellows  under  him)  was  the  most  dignified  member  of  my 
party  j  he  was,  indeed,  a  magnificent  old  man,  and  was  called 


CHAP,  viii.]  LADY  HESTER  STANHOPE.  65 

Shereef,  or  "  holy," — a  title  of  honor,  which,  with  the  privilege 
of  bearing  the  green  turban,  he  well  deserved,  not  only  from  the 
blood  of  the  Prophet  which  glowed  in  his  veins,  but  from  the 
well-known  sanctity  of  his  life,  and  the  length  of  his  blessed 
beard. 

Mysseri,  of  course,  still  travelled  with  me,  but  the  Arabic  was 
not  one  of  the  seven  languages  which  he  spoke  so  perfectly,  and 
I  was,  therefore,  obliged  to  hire  another  interpreter.  I  had  no 
difficulty  in  finding  a  proper  man  for  the  purpose — one  Deme- 
trius,—  or,  as  he  was  always  called,  Dthemetri,  a  native  of 
Zante,  who  had  been  tossed  about  by  fortune  in  all  directions. 
He  spoke  the  Arabic  very  well,  and  communicated  with  me  in 
Italian.  The  man  was  a  very  zealous  member  of  the  Greek 
church.  He  had  been  a  tailor.  He  was  as  ugly  as  the  devil, 
having  a  thoroughly  Tatar  countenance,  which  expressed  the 
agony  of  his  body  or  mind,  as  the  case  might  be,  in  the  most 
ludicrous  manner  imaginable  ;  he  embellished  the  natural  cari- 
cature of  his  person,  by  suspending  about  his  neck,  and  shoul- 
ders, and  waist,  quantities  of  little  bundles  and  parcels,  which  he 
thought  too  valuable  to  be  entrusted  to  the  jerking  of  pack- 
saddles.  The  mule  which  fell  to  his  lot  on  this  journey,  every  now 
and  then,  forgetting  that  his  rider  was  a  saint,  and  remembering 
that  he  was  a  tailor,  took  a  quiet  roll  upon  the  ground,  and 
stretched  his  limbs  calmly  and  lazily,  as  if  he  were  preparing  to 
hear  a  long  sermon.  Dthemetri  never  got  seriously  hurt,  but 
the  subversion  and  dislocation  of  his  bundles  made  him  for  the 
moment  a  sad  spectacle  of  ruin,  and  when  he  regained  his  legs, 
his  wrath  with  the  mule  became  very  amusing.  He  always 
addressed  the  beast  in  language  which  implied,  that  he,  as  a 
Christian  and  saint,  had  been  personally  insulted  and  oppressed 
by  a  Mahometan  mule.  Dthemetri,  however,  on  the  whole, 
proved  to  be  a  most  able  and  capital  servant ;  I  suspected  him 
of  now  and  then  leading  me  out  of  my  way,  in  order  that  he 
might  have  an  opportunity  of  visiting  the  shrine  of  a  saint,  and 
on  one  occasion,  as  you  will  see  by  and  by,  he  was  induced, 
by  religious  motives,  to  commit  a  gross  breach  of  duty  ;  but  put- 
ting these  pious  faults  out  of  the  question  (and  they  were  faults 
of  the  right  side),  he  was  always  faithful  and  true  to  me.  j 


66  EOTHEN.  [CHAP.  vm. 

I  left  Saide  (the  Sidon  of  ancient  times),  on  my  right,  and 
about  an  hour,  I  think,  before  sunset,  began  to  ascend  one  of  the 
many  low  hills  of  Lebanon.  On  the  summit  before  me,  was  a 
broad,  grey  mass  of  irregular  building,  which,  from  its  position, 
as  well  as  from  the  gloomy  blankness  of  its  walls,  gave  the  idea 
of  a  neglected  fortress  ;  it  had,  in  fact,  been  a  convent  of  great 
size,  and  like  most  of  the  religious  houses  in  this  part  of  the 
world,  had  been  made  strong  enough  for  opposing  an  inert  re- 
sistance to  any  mere  casual  band  of  assailants  who  might  be 
unprovided  with  regular  means  of  attack  ;  this  was  the  dwelling- 
place  of  the  Chatham's  fiery  grand-daughter. 

The  aspect  of  the  first  court  which  I  entered,  was  such  as  to 
keep  one  in  the  idea  of  having  to  do  with  a  fortress,  rather  than 
a  mere  peaceable  dwelling-place.  A  number  of  fierce-looking 
and  ill-clad  Albanian  soldiers  were  hanging  about  the  place,  and 
striving  to  bear  the  curse  of  tranquillity,  as  well  as  they  could ; 
two  or  three  of  them,  I  think,  were  smoking  their  tchibouques,  but 
the  rest  of  them  were  lying  torpidly  upon  the  flat  stones,  like  the 
bodies  of  departed  brigands.  I  rode  on  to  an  inner  part  of  the 
building,  and  at  last,  quitting  my  horses,  was  conducted  through 
a  door-way  which  led  me  at  once  from  an  open  court  into  an 
apartment  on  the  ground  floor.  As  I  entered,  an  oriental 
figure  in  male  costume  approached  me  from  the  farther 
end  of  the  room  with  many  and  profound  bows,  but  the  grow- 
ing shades  of  evening,  as  well  as  my  near-sightedness,  pre- 
vented me  from  distinguishing  the  features  of  the  personage  who 
was  receiving  me  with  this  solemn  welcome.  I  had  always, 
however,  understood  that  Lady  Hester  Stanhope  wore  the  male 
attire,  and  I  began  to  utter  in  English  the  common  civilities 
which  seemed  to  be  proper  on  the  commencement  of  a  visit  by 
an  uninspired  mortal  to  a  renowned  Prophetess,  but  the  figure 
which  I  addressed  only  bowed  so  much  the  more,  prostrating 
itself  almost  to  the  ground,  but  speaking  to  me  never  a  word  ; 
I  feebly  strived  not  to  be  outdone  in  gestures  of  respect,  but 
presently  my  bowing  opponent  saw  the  error  under  which  I  was 
acting,  and  suddenly  convinced  me,  that  at  all  events  I  was  not 
yet  in  the  presence  of  a  superhuman  being,  by  declaring  that  he 
was  not  "  Miladi,"  but  was,  in  fact,  nothing  more  or  less  god- 


CHAP    viii.]  LADY  HESTER  STANHOPE.  67 

like  than  the  poor  Doctor,  who  had  brought  his  mistress's  letters 
to  Beyrout. 

Her  Ladyship,  in  the  right  spirit  of  hospitality,  now  sent,  and 
commanded  me  to  repose  for  a  while  after  the  fatigues  of  my 
journey,  and  to  dine. 

The  cuisine  was  of  the  Oriental  kind,  which  is  highly  arti- 
ficial, and  I  thought  it  very  good.  I  rejoiced,  too,  in  the  wine 
of  the  Lebanon. 

Soon  after  the  ending  of  the  dinner,  the  Doctor  arrived  with 
Miladi's  compliments,  and  an  intimation  that  she  would  be  happy 
to  receive  me  if  I  were  so  disposed.  It  had  now  grown  dark, 
and  the  rain  was  falling  heavily,  so  that  I  got  rather  wet  in  fol- 
lowing my  guide  through  the  open  courts  which  I  had  to  pass, 
in  order  to  reach  the  presence  chamber.  At  last  I  was  ushered 
into  a  small  apartment,  which  was  protected  from  the  draughts  of 
air  through  the  door-way  by  a  folding  screen ;  passing  this,  I 
came  alongside  of  a  common  European  sofa,  where  sat  the  Lady 
Prophetess.  She  rose  from  her  seat  very  formally — spoke  to 
me  a  few  words  of  welcome,  pointed  to  a  chair  which  was 
placed  exactly  opposite  to  her  sofa,  at  a  couple  of  yards  distance, 
and  remained  standing  up  to  the  full  of  her  majestic  height,  per- 
fectly still  and  motionless,  until  I  had  taken  my  appointed  place  ; 
she  then  resumed  her  seat,  not  packing  herself  up  according  to 
the  mode  of  the  Orientals,  but  allowing  her  feet  to  rest  on  the 
floor,  or  the  footstool  ;  at  the  moment  of  seating  herself,  she 
covered  her  lap  with  a  mass  of  loose,  white  drapery,  which  she 
held  in  her  hand.  It  occurred  to  me  at  the  time,  that  she  did 
this,  in  order  to  avoid  the  awkwardness  of  sitting  in  manifest 
trowsers  under  the  eye  of  an  European,  but  I  can  hardly  fancy 
now,  that  with  her  wilful  nature,  she  would  have  brooked  such 
a  compromise  as  this. 

The  woman  before  me  had  exactly  the  person  of  a  Prophet- 
ess— not,  indeed,  of  the  divine  Sibyl  imagined  by  Domenichino, 
so  sweetly  distracted  betwixt  Love  and  Mystery,  but  of  a  good, 
business-like,  practical  Prophetess,  long  used  to  the  exercise  of 
her  sacred  calling.  I  have  been  told  by  those  who  knew  Lady 
Hester  Stanhope  in  her  youth,  that  any  notion  of  a  resemblance 
betwixt  her,  and  the  great  Chatham,  must  have  been  fanciful, 


68  EOTHEN.  [CHAP.  vm. 

but  at  the  time  of  my  seeing  her,  the  large  commanding  features 
of  the  gaunt  woman,  then  sixty  years  old  or  more,  certainly 
reminded  me  of  the  Statesman  that  lay  dying*  in  the  House  of 
Lords,  according  to  Copley's  picture ;  her  face  was  of  the  most 
astonishing  whiteness  ;f  she  wore  a  very  large  turban,  which 
seemed  to  be  of  pale  cashmere  shawls,  so  disposed  as  to  conceal 
the  hair ;  her  dress,  from  the  chin  down  to  the  point  at  which  it 
was  concealed  by  the  drapery  which  she  held  over  her  lap,  was 
a  mass  of  white  linen  loosely  folding — an  ecclesiastical  sort  of 
affair — more  like  a  surplice  than  any  of  those  blessed  creations 
which  our  souls  love  under  the  names  of  "  dress,"  and  "  frock," 
and  "boddice,"  and  "collar,"  and  "habit-shirt,"  and  sweet 
-'chemisette." 

Such  was  the  outward  seeming  of  the  personage  that  sat 
before  me,  and  indeed  she  was  almost  bound  by  the  fame  of  her 
actual  achievements,  as  well  as  by  her  sublime  pretensions,  to 
look  a  little  differently  from  the  rest  of  woman-kind.  There 
had  been  something  of  grandeur  in  her  career :  after  the  death 
of  Lady  Chatham,  which  happened  in  1803,  she  lived  under  the 
roof  of  her  uncle,  the  second  Pitt,  and  when  he  resumed  the 
Government  in  1804,  she  became  the  dispenser  of  much  patron- 
age, and  sole  Secretary  of  State,  for  the  department  of  Treasury 
banquets.  Not  having  seen  the  Lady  until  late  in  her  life, 
when  she  was  fired  with  spiritual  ambition,  I  can  hardly  fancy 
that  she  could  have  performed  her  political  duties  in  the  saloons 
of  the  Minister  with  much  of  feminine  sweetness  and  patience ; 
I  am  told,  however,  that  she  managed  matters  very  well  indeed  ; 
perhaps  it  was  better  for  the  lofty-minded  leader  of  the  House, 
to  have  his  reception-rooms  guarded  by  this  stately  creature, 
than  by  a  merely  clever  and  managing  woman ;  it  was  fitting 
that  the  wholesome  awe  with  which  he  filled  the  minds  of  the 
country  gentlemen,  should  be  aggravated  by  the  presence  of  his 
majestic  niece.  But  the  end  was  approaching;  the  sun  of 
Austerlitz  showed  the  Czar  madly  sliding  his  splendid  army  like 
a  weaver's  shuttle,  from  his  right  hand  to  his  left,  under  the 

*  Historically  "fainting?'  the  death  did  not  occur  until  long  afterwards. 
1 1  am  told  that  in  youth  she  was  exceedingly  sallow. 


CHAP,  vin.]  LADY  HESTER  STANHOPE.  69 

very  eyes — the  deep,  grey,  watchful  eyes  of  Napoleon  ;  before 
night  came,  the  coalition  was  a  vain  thing — meet  for  History, 
and  the  heart  of  its  great  author  was  crushed  with  grief,  when 
the  terrible  tidings  came  to  his  ears.  In  the  bitterness  of  his 
despair,  he  cried  out  to  his  niece,  and  bid  her  "  ROLL  trp  THE 
MAP  OF  EUROPE  ;"  there  was  a  little  more  of  suffering,  and  at 
last,  with  his  swollen  tongue  still  muttering  something  for  Eng- 
land, ho  died  by  the  noblest  of  all  sorrows. 

Lady  Hester,  meeting  the  calamity  in  her  own  fierce  way, 
seems  to  have  scorned  the  poor  island  that  had  not  enough  of 
God's  grace  to  keep  the  "  heaven-sent  "  minister  alive.  I  can 
hardly  tell  why  it  should  be,  but  there  is  a  longing  for  the  East, 
very  commonly  felt  by  proud-hearted  people,  when  goaded  by 
sorrow.  Lady  Hester  Stanhope  obeyed  this  impulse  :  for  some 
time,  I  believe,  she  was  at  Constantinople,  where  her  magnifi- 
cence, and  near  alliance  to  the  late  minister,  gained  her  great 
influence.  Afterwards  she  passed  into  Syria.  The  people  of 
that  country,  excited  by  the  achievements  of  Sir  Sydney  Smith, 
had  begun  to  imagine  the  possibility  of  their  land  being  occupied 
by  the  English,  and  many  of  them  looked  upon  Lady  Hester  as 
a  Princess  who  came  to  prepare  the  way  for  the  expected  con- 
quest. I  don't  know  it  from  her  own  lips,  or  indeed  from  any 
certain  authority,  but  I  have  been  told  that  she  began  her  con- 
nection with  the  Bedouins  by  making  a  large  present  of  money 
(£500,  it  was  said,  immense  in  piastres)  to  the  Sheik  whose 
authority  was  recognized  in  that  part  of  the  Desert,  which  lies 
between  Damascus  and  Palmyra.  The  prestige  created  by  the 
rumors  of  her  high  and  undefined  rank,  as  well  as  of  her  wealth, 
and  corresponding  magnificence,  was  well  sustained  by  her  impe- 
rious character,  and  her  dauntless  bravery.  Her  influence 
increased.  I  never  heard  anything  satisfactory  as  to  the  real 
extent  or  duration  of  her  sway,  but  it  seemed  that,  for  a  time  at 
least,  she  certainly  exercised  something  like  sovereignty  amongst 
the  wandering  tribes.  And  now  that  her  earthly  kingdom  had 
passed  away,  she  strove  for  spiritual  power,  and  impiously  dared, 
as  it  was  said,  to  boast  some  mystic  union  with  the  very  God  of 
very  God ! 

A  couple  of  black  slave  girls  came  at  a  signal,  and  supplied 


EOTHEN.  [CHAP.  VHI. 


their  mistress  as  well  as  myself,  with  lighted  tchibouques,  and 
coffee. 

The  custom  of  the  East  sanctions,  and  almost  commands  some 
moments  of  silence  whilst  you  are  inhaling  the  first  few  breaths 
of  the  fragrant  pipe ;  the  pause  was  broken,  I  think,  by  my 
Lady,  who  addressed  to  me  some  inquiries  respecting  my  mother, 
and  particularly  as  to  her  marriage  ;  but  before  I  had  commu- 
nicated any  great  amount  of  family  facts,  the  spirit  of  the  Pro- 
phetess kindled  within  her,  and  presently  (though  with  all  the 
skill  of  a  woman  of  the  world),  she  shuffled  away  the  subject  of 
poor  dear  Somersetshire,  and  bounded  onward  into  loftier  spheres 
of  thought. 

My  old  acquaintance  with  some  of  ';  the  twelve,"  enabled  me 
to  bear  my  part  (of  course  a  very  humble  one),  in  a  conversa- 
tion relative  to  occult  science.  Milnes  once  spread  a  report,  that 
every  gang  of  gipsies  was  found  upon  inquiry  to  have  come  last 
from  a  place  to  the  westward,  and  to  be  about  to  make  the  next 
move  in  an  eastern  direction  ;  either  therefore  they  were  to  be  all 
gathered  together  towards  the  rising  of  the  sun,  by  the  mysteri- 
ous finger  of  Providence,  or  else  they  were  to  revolve  round  the 
globe  for  ever,  and  ever,  and  ever ;  both  of  these  suppositions 
were  highly  gratifying,  because  they  were  both  marvellous,  and 
though  the  story  on  which  they  were  founded  plainly  sprung 
from  the  inventive  brain  of  a  poet,  no  one  had  ever  been  so 
odiously  statistical  as  to  attempt  a  contradiction  of  it.  I  now 
mentioned  the  story  as  a  report  to  Lady  Hester  Stanhope,  and 
asked  her  if  it  were  true  ;  I  could  not  have  touched  upon  any 
imaginable  subject  more  deeply  interesting  to  my  hearer — more 
closely  akin  to  her  habitual  train  of  thinking ;  she  immediately 
threw  off  all  the  restraint  belonging  to  an  interview  with  a 
stranger  ;  and  when  she  had  received  a  few  more  similar  proofs 
of  my  aptness  for  the  marvellous,  she  went  so  far  as  to  say,  that 
she  would  adopt  me  as  her  "  eleve  "  in  occult  science. 

For  hours,  and  hours,  this  wondrous  white  woman  poured  forth 
her  speech,  for  the  most  part  concerning  sacred  and  profane 
mysteries ;  but  every  now  and  then,  she  would  stay  her  lofty 
flight,  and  swoop  down  upon  the  world  again ;  whenever  this 
happened,  I  was  interested  in  her  conversation. 


CHAP,  vni.]  LADY  HESTER  STANHOPE.  71 

She  adverted  more  than  once  to  the  period  of  her  lost  sway 
amongst  the  Arabs,  and  mentioned  some  of  the  circumstances 
which  aided  her  in  obtaining  influence  with  the  wandering  tribes. 
The  Bedouin,  so  often  engaged  in  irregular  warfare,  strains  his 
eyes  to  the  horizon  in  search  of  a  coming  enemy  just  as  habitu- 
ally as  the  sailor  keeps  his  "bright  look  out"  for  a  strange  sail. 
In  the  absence  of  telescopes,  a  far  reaching  sight  is  highly  valued, 
and  Lady  Hester  possessed  this  quality  to  an  extraordinary 
degree.  She  told  me  that  on  one  occasion,  when  there  was 
good  reason  to  expect  a.  hostile  attack,  great  excitement  was  felt 
in  the  camp  by  the  report  of  a  far-seeing  Arab,  who  declared 
that  he  could  just  distinguish  some  moving  objects  upon  the  very 
furthest  point  within  the  reach  of  his  eyes  ;  Lady  Hester  was 
consulted,  and  she  instantly  assured  her  comrades  in  arms,  that 
there  were  indeed  a  number  of  horses  within  sight,  but  that  they 
were  without  riders  ;  the  assertion  proved  to  be  correct,  and 
from  that  time  forth,  her  superiority  over  all  others  in  respect  of 
far  sight  remained  undisputed. 

Lady  Hester  related  to  me  this  other  anecdote  of  her  Arab 
life  ;  it  was  when  the  heroic  qualities  of  the  Englishwoman 
were  just  beginning  to  be  felt  amongst  the  people  of  the  desert 
that  she  was  marching  one  day  along  with  the  forces  of  the 
tribe,  to  which  she  had  allied  herself.  She  perceived  that  pre- 
parations for  an  engagement  were  going  on,  and  upon  her  making 
inquiry  as  to  the  cause,  the  Sheik  at  first  affected  mystery  and 
concealment,  but  at  last  confessed  that  war  had  been  declared 
against  his  tribe  on  account  of  its  alliance  with  the  English 
Princess,  and  that  they  were  now  unfortunately  about  to  be 
attacked  by  a  very  superior  force ;  he  made  it  appear  that  Lady 
Hester  was  the  sole  cause  of  hostility  betwixt  his  tribe  and  the 
impending  enemy,  and  that  his  sacred  duty  of  protecting  the 
Englishwoman  whom  he  had  admitted  as  his  guest,  was  the  only 
obstacle  which  prevented  an  amicable  arrangement  of  the  dis- 
pute. The  Sheik  hinted  that  his  tribe  was  likely  to  sustain  an 
almost  overwhelming  blow,  but  at  the  same  time  declared,  that 
no  fear  of  the  consequences,  however  terrible  to  him,  and  his 
whole  people,  should  induce  him  to  dream  of  abandoning  his 
illustrious  guest.  The  Heroine  instantly  took  her  part ;  it  was 


72  EOTHEN.  [CHAP.  vm. 

not  for  her  to  be  a  source  of  danger  to  her  friends,  but  rather  to 
her  enemies,  so  she  resolved  to  turn  away  from  the  people,  and 
trust  for  help  to  none,  save  only  her  haughty  self.  The  Sheiks 
affected  to  dissuade  her  from  so  rash  a  course,  and  fairly  told 
her  that  although  they  (having  been  freed  from  her  presence) 
would  be  able  to  make  good  terms  for  themselves,  yet  that  there 
were  no  means  of  allaying  the  hostility  felt  towards  her,  and 
that  the  whole  face  of  the  desert  would  be  swept  by  the  horse- 
men of  her  enemies  so  carefully,  as  to  make  her  escape  into 
other  districts  almost  impossible.  The  brave  woman  was  not  to 
be  moved  by  terrors  of  this  kind,  and  bidding  farewell  to  the 
tribe  which  had  honored  and  protected  her,  she  turned  her 
horse's  head,  and  rode  straight  away  from  them,  without  friend, 
or  follower.  Hours  had  elapsed,  and  for  some  time  she  had 
been  alone  in  the  centre  of  the  round  horizon,  when  her  quick 
eye  perceived  some  horsemen  in  the  distance.  The  party  came 
nearer,  and  nearer ;  soon  it  was  plain  that  they  were  making 
towards  her,  and  presently  some  hundreds  of  Bedouins,  fully 
armed,  galloped  up  to  her,  ferociously  shouting,  and  apparently 
intending  to  take  her  life  at  the  instant  with  their  pointed  spears. 
Her  face  at  the  time  was  covered  with  the  yashmack  according 
to  the  Eastern  usage,  but  at  the  moment  when  the  foremost  of 
the  horsemen  had  all  but  reached  her  with  their  spears,  she  stood 
up  in  her  stirrups — withdrew  the  yashmack  that  veiled  the  ter- 
rors of  her  countenance — waved  her  arm  slowly  and  disdainfully, 
and  cried  out  with  a  loud  voice,  "Avaunt!"*  The  horsemen 
recoiled  from  her  glance,  but  not  in  terror.  The  threatening 
yells  of  the  assailants  were  suddenly  changed  for  loud  shouts  of 
joy,  and  admiration,  at  the  bravery  of  the  stately  English  woman, 
and  festive  gun-shots  were  fired  on  all  sides  around  her  honored 
head.  The  truth  was,  that  the  party  belonged  to  the  tribe  with 
which  she  had  allied  herself,  and  that  the  threatened  attack,  as 
well  as  the  pretended  apprehension  of  an  engagement,  had  been 
contrived  for  the  mere  purpose  of  testing  her  courage.  The  day 

*  She  spoke  it,  I  dare  say,  in  English ;  the  words  would  not  be  the  less 
effective  for  being  spoken  in  an  unknown  tongue.  Lady  Hester,  I  believe, 
never  learnt  to  speak  the  Arabic  with  a  perfect  accent 


CHAP,  vin.]  LADY  HESTER  STANHOPE.  73 

ended  in  a  great  feast  prepared  to  do  honor  to  the  heroine,  and 
from  that  time  her  power  over  the  minds  of  the  people  grew  rap- 
idly. "  Lady  Hester  related  this  story  with  great  spirit,  and  I 
recollect  that  she  put  up  her  yashmack  for  a  moment,  in  order 
to  give  me  a  better  idea  of  the  effect  which  she  produced  by 
suddenly  revealing  the  awfulness  of  her  countenance.  ^ 

With  respect  to  her  then  present  mode  of  life,  Lady  Hester 
informed  me,  that  for  her  sin,  she  had  subjected  herself  during 
many  years  to  severe  penance,  and  that  her  self-denial  had  not 
been  without  its  reward.  "  Vain  and  false,"  said  she,  "  is  all 
the  pretended  knowledge  of  the  Europeans — their  Doctors  will 
tell  you  that  the  drinking  of  milk  gives  yellowness  to  the  com- 
plexion ;  milk  is  my  only  food,  and  you  see  if  my  face  be  not 
white."  Her  abstinence  from  food  intellectual,  was  carried  as 
far  as  her  physical  fasting  ;  she  never,  she  said,  looked  upon  a 
book  nor  a  newspaper,  but  trusted  alone  to  the  stars  for  her  sub- 
lime knowledge  ;  she  usually  passed  the  nights  in  communing 
with  these  heavenly  teachers,  and  lay  at  rest  during  the  day- 
time. She  spoke  with  great  contempt  of  the  frivolity,  and  be- 
nighted ignorance  of  the  modern  Europeans,  and  mentioned  in 
proof  of  this,  that  they  were  not  only  untaught  in  astrology,  but 
were  unacquainted  with  the  common  and  every  day  phenomena 
produced  by  magic  art ;  she  spoke  as  if  she  would  make  me 
understand  that  all  sorcerous  spells  were  completely  at  her  com- 
mand, but  that  the  exercise  of  such  powers  would  be  derogatory 
to  her  high  rank  in  the  heavenly  kingdom.  She  said,  that  the 
spell  by  which  the  face  of  an  absent  person  is  thrown  upon  a 
mirror,  was  within  the  reach  of  the  humblest  and  most  con- 
temptible magicians,  but  that  the  practice  of  such  like  arts  was 
unholy,  as  well  as  vulgar. 

We  spoke  of  the  bending  twig  by  which  it  is  said  that  pre- 
cious metals  may  be  discovered.  In  relation  to  this,  the  Pro- 
phetess told  me  a  story  rather  against  herself,  and  inconsistent 
with  the  notion  of  her  being  perfect  in  her  science,  but  I  think 
that  she  mentioned  the  facts  as  having  happened  before  the  time 
at  which  she  attained  to  the  great-  spiritual  authority  which  she 
now  arrogated  ;  she  told  me  that  vast  treasures  were  known  to 
exist  in  a  situation  which  she  mentioned,  if  I  rightly  remember, 


EOTHEN.  [CHAP,  vm 


as  being  near  Suez  :  that  Napoleon,  profanely  brave,  thrust  his 
arm  into  the  cave,  containing  the  coveted  gold,  and  that  instantly 
his  flesh  became  palsied,  but  the  youthful  hero  (for  she  said  he 
was  great  in  his  generation)  was  not  to  be  thus  daunted  ;  he 
fell  back  characteristically  upon  his  brazen  resources,  and 
ordered  up  his  artillery ;  but  man  could  not  strive  with  demons, 
and  Napoleon  was  foiled.  In  years  after  came  Ibrahim  Pasha, 
with  heavy  guns,  and  wicked  spells  to-boot,  but  the  infernal 
guardians  of  the  treasure  were  too  strong  for  him.  It  was  after 
this  that  Lady  Hester  passed  by  the  spot,  and  she  described, 
with  animated  gesture,  the  force  and  energy  with  which  the 
divining  twig  had  suddenly  leaped  in  her  hands ;  she  ordered 
excavations,  and  no  demons  opposed  her  enterprise ;  the  vast 
chest  in  which  the  treasure  had  been  deposited  was  at  length 
discovered,  but  lo !  and  behold,  it  was  full  of  pebbles !  She 
said,  however,  that  the  times  were  approaching,  in  which  the 
hidden  treasures  of  the  earth  would  become  available  to  those 
who  had  true  knowledge. 

Speaking  of  Ibrahim  Pasha,  Lady  Hester  said,  that  he  was  a 
bold,  bad  man,  and  was  possessed  of  some  of  those  common  and 
wicked  magical  arts  upon  which  she  looked  down  with  so  much 
contempt ;  she  said,  for  instance,  that  Ibrahim's  life  was  charmed 
against  balls  and  steel,  and  that  after  a  battle,  he  loosened  the 
folds  of  his  shawl,  and  shook  out  the  bullets  like  dust. 

It  seems  that  the  St.  Simonians  once  made  overtures  to  Lady 
Hester ;  she  told  me  that  the  Peer  Enfantin  (the  chief  of  the 
sect)  had  sent  her  a  service  of  plate,  but  that  she  had  declined 
to  receive  it ;  she  delivered  a  prediction  as  to  the  probability  of 
the  St.  Simonians  finding  the  "  mystic  mother,"  and  this  she  did 
in  a  way  which  would  amuse  you ;  unfortunately,  I  am  not  at 
liberty  to  mention  this  part  of  the  woman's  prophecies ;  why,  I 
cannot  tell,  but  so  it  is,  that  she  bound  me  to  eternal  secrecy. 

Lady  Hester  told  me,  that  since  her  residence  at  Djoun,  she 
had  been  attacked  by  a  terrible  illness,  which  rendered  her  for  a 
long  time  perfectly  helpless ;  all  her  attendants  fled,  and  left  her 
to  perish.  Whilst  she  lay  thus  alone,  and  quite  unable  to  rise, 
robbers  came,  and  carried  away  her  property  ;*  she  told  me, 

*  The  proceedings  thus  described  to  me  by  Lady  Hester,  as  having  taken 


CHAP,  vni.]  LADY  HESTER  STANHOPE.  75 

that  they  actually  unroofed  a  great  part  of  the  building,  and  em- 
ployed engines  with  pulleys  for  the  purpose  of  hoisting  out  such 
of  her  valuables  as  were  too  bulky  to  pass  through  doors.  It 
would  seem  that,  before  this  catastrophe,  Lady  Hester  had  been 
rich  in  the  possession  of  Eastern  luxuries,  for  she  told  me  that 
when  the  chiefs  of  the  Ottoman  force  took  refuge  with  her  after 
the  fall  of  Acre,  they  brought,  their  wives  also  in  great  numbers; 
to  all  of  these  Lady  Hester,  as  she  said,  presented  magnificent 
dresses,  but  her  generosity  occasioned  strife  only  instead  of  grati- 
tude, for  every  woman  who  fancied  her  present  less  splendid  than 
that  of  another,  with  equal  or  less  pretension,  became  absolutely 
furious ;  all  these  audacious  guests  had  now  been  got  rid  of,  but 
the  Albanian  soldiers  who  had  taken  refuge  with  Lady  Hester  at 
the  same  time,  still  remained  under  her  protection. 

In  truth,  this  half-ruined  convent,  guarded  by  the  proud  heart 

place  during  her  illness,  were  afterwards  re-enacted  at  the  time  of  her 
death.  Since  I  wrote  the  words  to  which  this  note  is  appended,  I  received, 
from  an  English  traveller,  this  interesting  account  of  the  heroine's  death,  or 
rather  of  the  circumstances  attending  the  discovery  of  the  event ;  the  letter 
is  dated  Djoun  (Lady  Hester's  late  residence)  and  contains  the  following 
passages : — "  I  reached  this  strange  hermitage  last  night,  and  though  time 
and  some  naval  officers  are  urging  my  departure,  I  am  too  glad  to  find  my- 
self in  a  place  whereof  we  have  often  discoursed,  to  allow  the  opportunity 
of  writing  to  you  to  pass  by.  How  beautiful  must  this  convent-palace  have 
been  when  you  saw  it,  its  strange  mistress  doing  its  hospitalities  and  exer- 
cising her  self-won  regal  power !  A  friend  of has  a  letter  from  the 

Sultan  to  her,  beginning  '  Cousin.'  She  annihilated  a  village  for  disobedi- 
ence, and  burned  a  mountain  chalet  with  all  its  inhabitants,  for  the  murder 
of  a  traveller.  *  *  *  She  held  on  gallantly  to  the  last.  Moore,  our 
Consul  at  Beyroot,  heard  she  was  ill,  and  rode  over  the  mountains  accom- 
panied by  a  missionary,  to  visit  her.  A  profound  silence  was  over  all  the 
palace — no  one  met  them — they  lighted  their  own  lamps  in  the  outer  court, 
and  passed  unquestioned  through  court  and  gallery,  till  they  came  to  where 
she  lay :  a  corpse  was  the  only  inhabitant  of  Djoun,  and  the  isolation  from 
her  kind  which  she  so  long  sought,  was  indeed  completed.  That  morning 
thirty-seven  servants  had  watched  every  motion  of  her  eye ;  that  spell  once 
darkened  by  death,  every  one  fled  with  the  plunder  ;  not  a  single  thing  was 
left  in  the  room  where  she  lay  dead,  except  upon  her  person  ;  no  one  had 
ventured  to  touch  that,  and  even  in  death  she  seemed  able  to  protect  herself. 
At  midnight  the  missionary  carried  her  out  to  a  favorite  resort  of  hers  in  the 
garden,  and  there  they  buried  her.  *  *  *  The  buildings  are  fast  falling 
into  decay." 


76  EOTHEN.  [CHAP.  vnr. 

of  an  English  gentlewoman,  was  the  only  spot  throughout  all 
Syria  and  Palestine  in  which  the  will  of  Mehemet  Ali  and  his 
fierce  Lieutenant  was  not  the  law.  More  than  once  had  the 
Pasha  of  Egypt  commanded  that  Ibrahim  should  have  the  Alba- 
nians delivered  up  to  him,  but  this  white  woman  of  the  mountain 
(grown  classical,  not  by  books,  but  by  very  pride)  answered 
only  with  a  disdainful  invitation  to  "  come  and  take  them." 
Whether  it  was  that  Ibrahim  was  acted  upon  by  any  superstitious 
dread  of  interfering  with  the  Prophetess  (a  notion  not  at  all 
incompatible  with  his  character  as  an  able  Oriental  commander), 
or  that  he  feared  the  ridicule  of  putting  himself  in  collision  with 
a  gentlewoman,  he  certainly  never  ventured  to  attack  the  sanc- 
tuary, and  so  long  as  the  Chatham's  grand-daughter  breathed  a 
breath  of  life,  there  was  always  this  one  hillock,  and  that,  too,  in 
the  midst  of  a  most  populous  district,  which  stood  out  and  kept  its 
freedom.  Mehemet  Ali  used  to  say,  I  am  told,  that  the  English 
woman  had  given  him  more  trouble  than  all  the  insurgent  people 
of  Syria  and  Palestine. 

The  Prophetess  announced  to  me  that  we  were  upon  the  eve 
of  a  stupendous  convulsion,  which  would  destroy  the  then  recog- 
nized value  of  all  property  upon  earth,  and  declaring  that  those 
only  who  should  be  in  the  East  at  the  time  of  the  great  change, 
could  hope  for  greatness  in  the  new  life  that  was  now  close  at 
hand,  she  advised  me,  whilst  there  was  yet  time,  to  dispose  of  my 
property  in  fragile  England,  and  gain  a  station  in  Asia ;  she  told 
me  that,  after  leaving  her,  I  should  go  into  Egypt,  but  that  in  a 
little  while  I  should  return  into  Syria.  I  secretly  smiled  at  this 
last  prophecy  as  a  "  bad-shot,"  for  I  had  fully  determined,  after 
visiting  the  pyramids,  to  take  ship  from  Alexandria  for  Greece. 
But  men  struggle  vainly  in  the  meshes  of  their  destiny ;  the  un- 
believed  Cassandra  was  right  after  all ;  the  Plague  came,  and 
the  necessity  of  avoiding  the  Quarantine  to  which  I  should  have 
been  subjected,  if  I  had  sailed  from  Alexandria,  forced  me  to 
alter  my  route :  I  went  down  into  Egypt,  and  stayed  there  for  a 
time,  and  then  crossed  the  Desert  once  more,  and  came  back  to 
the  mountains  of  the  Lebanon  exactly  as  the  Prophetess  had 
foretold. 

Lady  Hester  talked  to  me  long  and  earnestly  on  the  subject  of 


CHAP,  viii.]  LADY  HESTER  STANHOPE.  77 

Religion,  announcing  that  the  Messiah  was  yet  to  come ;  she  strived 
to  impress  me  with  the  vanity  and  the  falseness  of  all  European 
creeds,  as  well  as  with  a  sense  of  her  own  spiritual  greatness : 
throughout  her  conversation  upon  these  high  topics,  she  skilfully 
insinuated,  without  actually  asserting,  her  heavenly  rank. 

Amongst  other  much  more  marvellous  powers,  the  Lady 
claimed  to  have  one  which  most  women  I  fancy  possess,  namely, 
that  of  reading  men's  characters  in  their  faces ;  she  examined 
the  line  of  my  features  very  attentively,  and  told  me  the  result, 
which,  however,  I  mean  to  keep  hidden. 

One  great  subject  of  discourse  was  that  of  "  race,"  upon  which 
she  was  very  diffuse,  and  yet  rather  mysterious ;  she  set  great 
value  upon  the  ancient  French  (not  Norman  blood,  for  that  she 
vilified),  but  did  not  at  all  appreciate  that  which  we  call  in  this 
country  an  "old  family."*  She  had  a  vast  idea  of  the  Cornish 
miners,  on  account  of  their  race,  and  said,  if  she  chose,  she  could 
give  me  the  means  of  rousing  them  to  the  most  tremendous 
enthusiasm. 

Such  are  the  topics  on  which  the  Lady  mainly  conversed,  but 
very  often  she  would  descend  to  more  worldly  chat,  and  then  she 
was  no  longer  the  prophetess,  but  the  sort  of  woman  that  you 
sometimes  see,  I  am  told,  in  London  drawing-rooms, — cool — un- 
sparing of  enemies — full  of  audacious  fun,  and  saying  the  down- 
right things  that  the  sheepish  society  around  her  is  afraid  to 
utter.  I  am  told  that  Lady  Hester  was  in  her  youth  a  capital 
mimic,  and  she  showed  me  that  not  all  the  queenly  dullness  to 
which  she  had  condemned  herself, — not  all  her  fasting,  and  soli- 
tude,  had  destroyed  this  terrible  power.  The  first  whom  she 
crucified  in  my  presence,  was  poor  Lord  Byron;  she  had  seen 
him,  it  appeared,  I  know  not  where,  soon  after  his  arrival  in  the 
East,  and  was  vastly  amused  at  his  little  affectations ;  he  had 
picked  up  a  few  sentences  of  the  Romaic,  with  which  he 
affected  to  give  orders  to  his  Greek  servant ;  I  can't  tell  whether 

*  In  a  letter  which  I  afterwards  received  from  Lady  Hester,  she  mentioned 
incidentally  Lord  Hardwicke,  and  said  that  he  was  "  the  kindest-hearted 
man  existing — a<nost  manly,  firm  character.  He  comes  from  a  good  breed, 
—all  the  Yorkes  excellent,  with  ancient  French  blood  in  their  veins." 


78  EOTHEN.  [CHAP.  vm. 

Lady  Hester's  mimicry  of  the  bard  was  at  all  close,  but  it  was 
amusing  ;  she  attributed  to  him  a  curiously  coxcombical  lisp. 

Another  person  whose  style  of  speaking  the  Lady  took  off 
very  amusingly  was  one  who  would  scarcely  object  to  suffer  by 
the  side  of  Lord  Byron, — I  mean  Lamartine,  who  had  visited 
her  in  the  course  of  his  travels  ;  the  peculiarity  which  attracted 
her  ridicule  was  an  over- refinement  of  manner  :  according  to  my 
Lady's  imitation  of  Lamartine  (I  have  never  seen  him  myself), 
he  had  none  of  the  violent  grimace  of  his  countrymen,  and  not 
even  their  usual  way  of  talking,  but  rather  bore  himself  min- 
cingly,  like  the  humbler  sort  of  English  Dandy.* 

Lady  Hester  seems  to  have  heartily  despised  everything 
approaching  to  exquisiteness ;  she  told  me,  by  the  by  (and  her 
opinion  upon  that  subject  is  worth  having),  that  a  downright  man- 
ner, amounting  even  to  brusqueness,  is  more  effective  than  any 
other  with  the  Oriental ;  and  that  amongst  the  English,  of  all 
ranks,  and  all  classes,  there  is  no  man  so  attractive  to  the  Orien- 
tals— no  man  who  can  negotiate  with  them  half  so  effectively,  as 
a  good,  honest,  open-hearted,  and  positive  naval  officer  of  the 
old  school. 

I  have  told  you,  I  think,  that  Lady  Hester  could  deal  fiercely 
with  those  she  hated ;  one  man  above  all  others  (he  is  now  up- 
rooted from  society,  and  cast  away  for  ever)  she  blasted  with 
her  wrath  ;  you  would  have  thought  that  in  the  scornfulness  of 
her  nature,  she  must  have  sprung  upon  her  foe  with  more  of 
fierceness  than  of  skill,  but  this  was  not  so,  for  with  all  the 
force  and  vehemence  of  her  invective,  she  displayed  a  sober, 
patient  and  minute  attention  to  the  details  of  vituperation,  which 
contributed  to  its  success  a  thousand  times  more  than  mere  vio- 
lence. 

*  It  is  said  that  deaf  people  can  hear  what  is  said  concerning  themselves, 
and  it  would  seem  that  those  who  live  without  books,  or  newspapers,  know- 
all  that  is  written  about  them.  Lady  Hester  Stanhope,  though  not  admit- 
ting a  book  or  newspaper  into  her  fortress,  seems  to  have  known  the  way  in 
which  M.  Lamartine  mentioned  her  in  his  book,  for  in  a  letter  which 
she  wrote  to  me  after  my  return  to  England,  she  says,  "  although  neglected, 
as  Monsieur  Le  M."  (referring  as  I  believe  to  M.  Lamartine)  "  describes, 
and  without  books,  yet  my  head  is  organized  to  supply  the  want  of  them, 
as  well  as  acquired  knowledge." 


CHAP,  viii.]  LADY  HESTER  STANHOPE.  79 

During  the  hours  that  this  sort  of  conversation  or  rather  dis- 
course  was  going  on,  our  tchibouques  were  from  time  to  time  re- 
plenished, and  the  Lady  as  well  as  I,  continued  to  smoke  with  little 
or  no  intermission,  till  the  interview  ended.  I  think  that  the 
fragrant  fumes  of  Latakiah  must  have  helped  to  keep  me  on 
my  good  behavior  as  a  patient  disciple  of  the  Prophetess. 

It  was  not  till  after  midnight  that  my  visit  for  the  evening 
came  to  an  end ;  when  I  quitted  my  seat  the  Lady  rose,  and  stood 
up  in  the  same  formal  attitude  (almost  that  of  a  soldier  in  a  state 
of  "  attention,"  )  which  she  had  assumed  at  my  entrance,  at  the 
same  time  she  let  go  the  drapery  which  she  had  held  over  her 
lap  whilst  sitting,  and  allowed  it  to  fall  on  the  ground. 

The  next  morning  after  breakfast  I  was  visited  by  my  Lady's 
Secretary — the  only  European,  except  the  Doctor,  whom  she 
retained  in  her  household.  This  Secretary,  like  the  Doctor,  was 
Italian,  but  he  preserved  more  signs  of  European  dress  and 
European  pretensions,  than  his  medical  fellow-slave.  He  spoke 
little  or  no  English,  though  he  wrote  it  pretty  well,  having  been 
formerly  employed  in  a  mercantile  house  connected  with  England. 
The  poor  fellow  was  in  an  unhappy  state  of  mind.  In  order  to 
make  you  understand  the  extent  of  his  spiritual  anxieties,  I 
ought  to  have  told  you  that  the  Doctor  (who  had  sunk  into  the 
complete  Asiatic,  and  had  condescended  accordingly  to  the  per- 
formance of  even  menial  services)  had  adopted  the  common 
faith  of  all  the  neighboring  people,  and  had  become  a  firm  and 
happy  believer  in  the  divine  power  of  his  mistress.  Not  so  the 
Secretary  ;  when  I  had  strolled  with  him  to  a  distance  from  the 
building,  which  rendered  him  safe  from  being  overheard  by 
human  ears,  he  told  me  in  a  hollow  voice,  trembling  with  emo- 
tion, that  there  were  times  at  which  he  doubted  the  divinity  of 
"  Miledi."  I  said  nothing  to  encourage  the  poor  fellow  in  that 
frightful  state  of  scepticism,  which,  if  indulged,  might  end  in 
positive  infidelity.  I  found  that  her  Ladyship  had  rather  arbi- 
trarily abridged  the  amusements  of  her  Secretary,  forbidding 
him  from  shooting  small  birds  on  the  mountain  side.  This 
oppression  had  roused  in  him  a  spirit  of  inquiry  that  might  end 
fatally — perhaps  for  himself — perhaps  for  the  "  religion  of  the 
place." 


80  EOTHEN.  [CHAP.  vm. 

The  Secretary  told  me  that  his  Mistress  was  greatly  disliked  by 
the  surrounding  people  whom  she  oppressed  by  her  exactions, 
and  the  truth  of  this  statement  was  borne  out  by  the  way  in 
which  my  Lady  spoke  to  me  of  her  neighbors.  But  in  Eastern 
countries,  hate  and  veneration  are  very  commonly  felt  for  the 
same  object,  and  the  general  belief  in  the  superhuman  power 
of  this  wonderful  white  lady — her  resolute  and  imperious  char- 
acter, and  above  all,  perhaps,  her  fierce  Albanians  (not  back- 
ward to  obey  an  order  for  the  sacking  of  a  village)  inspired  sin- 
cere respect  amongst  the  surrounding  inhabitants.  Now  the 
being  "  respected"  amongst  Orientals,  is  not  an  empty,  or  merely 
honorary  distinction,  for,  on  the  contrary,  it  carries  with  it  a 
clear  right  to  take  your  neighbor's  corn,  his  cattle,  his  eggs,  and 
his  honey,  and  almost  anything  that  is  his,  except  his  wives. 
This  law  was  acted  upon  by  the  Princess  of  Djoun,  and  her 
establishment  was  supplied  by  contributions  apportioned  amongst 
the  nearest  of  the  villages. 

I  understood  that  the  Albanians  (restrained,  I  suppose,  by 
their  dread  of  being  delivered  up  to  Ibrahim)  had  not  given  any 
very  troublesome  proofs  of  their  unruly  natures.  The  Secre- 
tary told  me  that  their  rations,  including  a  small  allowance  of 
coffee  and  tobacco,  were  served  out  to  them  with  tolerable  regu- 
larity. 

I  asked  the  Secretary,  how  Lady  Hester  was  off  for  horses, 
and  said  that  I  would  take  a  look  at  the  stable' ;  the  man  did  not 
raise  any  opposition  to  my  proposal,  and  affected  no  mystery 
about  the  matter,  but  said  that  the  only  two  steeds  which  then 
belonged  to  her  Ladyship  were  of  a  very  humble  sort  ;  this 
answer,  and  a  storm  of  rain  which  began  to  descend,  prevented 
me  at  the  time  from  undertaking  my  journey  to  the  stable, 
which  was  at  some  distance  from  the  part  of  the  building  in 
which  I  was  quartered,  and  I  don't  know  that  I  ever  thought  of 
the  matter  afterwards,  until  my  return  to  England,  when  I  saw 
Lamartine's  eye- witnessing  account  of  the  horse  saddled  by  the 
hands  of  his  Maker  ! 

When  I  returned  to  my  apartment  (which,  as  my  hostess  told 
me,  was  the  only  one  in  the  whole  building  that  kept  out  the  rain) 


CHAP,  vin.]  LADY  HESTER  STANHOPE.  81 

her  Ladyship  sent  to  say  that  she  would  be  glad  to  receive  me 
again ;  I  was  rather  surprised  at  this,  for  I  had  understood  that 
she  reposed  during  the  day,  and  it  was  now  little  later  than 
noon.  "Really,"  said  she,  when  I  had  taken  my  seat  and  my 
pipe,  "  we  were  together  for  hours  last  night,  and  still  I  have 
heard  nothing  at  all  of  my  old  friends ;  now  do  tell  me  some- 
thing  of  your  dear  mother  and  her  sister ;  1  never  knew  your 
father — it  was  after  I  left  Burton  Pynsent  that  your  mother  mar- 
ried." I  began  to  make  slow  answer,  but  my  questioner  soon 
went  off  again  to  topics  more  sublime,  so  that  this  second  inter- 
view, which  lasted  two  or  three  hours,  was  occupied  with  the 
same  sort  of  varied  discourse  as  that  which  I  have  been 
describing. 

In  the  course  of  the  afternoon  the  captain  of  an  English  man- 
of-war  arrived  at  Djoun,  and  her  Ladyship  determined  to  receive 
him  for  the  same  reason  as  that  which  had  induced  her  to  allow 
my  visit — namely,  an  early  intimacy  with  his  family.  I,  and 
the  new  visitor,  who  was  a  pleasant,  amusing  person,  dined 
together,  and  we  were  afterwards  invited  to  the  presence  of  my 
Lady,  with  whom  we  sat  smoking  and  talking  till  midnight.  The 
conversation  turned  chiefly,  I  think,  upon  magical  science.  I 
had  determined  to  be  off  at  an  early  hour  the  next  morning,  and 
so  at  the  end  of  this  interview  I  bade  my  Lady  farewell.  With 
her  parting  words  she  once  more  advised  me  to  abandon  Europe, 
and  seek  my  reward  in  the  East,  and  she  urged  me,  too,  to  give 
the  like  counsels  to  my  father,  and  tell  him  that  "  She  had 
said  it." 

Lady  Hester's  unholy  claim  to  supremacy  in  the  spiritual 
kingdom  was,  no  doubt,  the  suggestion  of  fierce  and  inordinate 
pride,  most  perilously  akin  to  madness,  but  I  am  quite  sure  that  the 
mind  of  the  woman  was  too  strong  to  be  thoroughly  overcome  by 
even  this  potent  feeling.  I  plainly  saw  that  she  was  not  an  un- 
hesitating follower  of  her  own  system,  and  I  even  fancied  that  I 
could  distinguish  the  brief  moments  during  which  she  contrived 
to  believe  in  Herself,  from  those  long  and  less  happy  intervals  in 
which  her  own  reason  was  too  strong  for  her. 

As  for  the  Lady's  faith  in  Astrology,  and  Magic  science,  you 
are  not  for  a  moment  to  suppose  that  this  implied  any  aberration 
7 


82  EOTHEN.  [CHAP.  vm. 

of  intellect.  She  believed  these  things  in  common  with  those 
around  her,  for  she  seldom  spoke  to  anybody,  except  crazy  old 
dervishes,  who  received  her  alms,  and  fostered  her  extrava- 
gances, and  even  when  (as  on  the  occasion  of  my  visit)  she  was 
brought  into  contact  with  a  person  entertaining  different  notions, 
she  still  remained  uncontradicted.  This  entourage,  and  the 
habit  of  fasting  from  books  and  newspapers,  were  quite  enough 
to  make  her  a  facile  recipient  of  any  marvellous  story. 

I  think  that  in  England  we  are  scarcely  sufficiently  conscious 
of  the  great  debt  we  owe  to  the  wise  and  watchful  press  which 
presides  over  the  formation  of  our  opinions,  and  which  brings 
about  this  splendid  result,  namely,  that  in  matters  of  belief  the 
humblest  of  us  are  lifted  up  to  the  level  of  the  most  sagacious, 
so  that  really  a  simple  Cornet  in  the  Blues  is  no  more  likely  to 
entertain  a  foolish  belief  about  ghosts  or  witchcraft,  or  any  other 
supernatural  topic,  than  the  Lord  High  Chancellor  or  the  Leader 
of  the  House  of  Commons.  How  different  is  the  intellectual 
regime  of  Eastern  countries !  In  Syria,  and  Palestine,  and 
Egypt,  you  might  as  well  dispute  the  efficacy  of  grass  or  grain 
as  of  Magic.  There  is  no  controversy  about  the  matter.  The 
effect  of  this,  the  unanimous  belief  of  an  ignorant  people  upon 
the  mind  of  a  stranger,  is  extremely  curious,  and  well  worth 
noticing.  A  man  coming  freshly  from  Europe  is  at  first  proof 
against  the  nonsense  with  which  he  is  assailed,  but  often  it  hap- 
pens that  after  a  little  while  the  social  atmosphere  in  which  he 
lives  will  begin  to  infect  him,  and  if  he  has  been  unaccustomed 
to  the  cunning  of  fence  by  which  Reason  prepares  the  means  of 
guarding  herself  against  fallacy,  he  will  yield  himself  at  last  to 
the  faith  of  those  around  him,  and  this  he  will  do  by  sympathy, 
it  would  seem,  rather  than  from  conviction.  I  have  been  much 
interested  in  observing  that  the  mere  "  practical  man,"  however 
skilful  and  shrewd  in  his  own  way,  has  not  the  kind  of  power 
which  enables  him  to  resist  the  gradual  impression  which  is 
made  upon  his  mind  by  the  common  opinion  of  those  whom  he 
sees  and  hears  from  day  to  day.  Even  amongst  the  English 
(whose  good  sense  and  sound  religious  knowledge  would  be 
likely  to  guard  them  from  error),  I  have  known  the  calculating 
merchant,  the  inquisitive  traveller,  and  the  post-captain,  with  his 


CHAP,  viu.]  LADY  HESTER  STANHOPE.  83 

bright,  wakeful  eye  of  command — I  have  known  all  these  suiv 
render  themselves  to  the  really  magic-like  influence  of  other 
people's  minds ;  their  language  at  first  is,  that  they  are  "  stag- 
gered ;"  leading  you  by  that  expression  to  suppose  that  they  had 
been  witnesses  to  some  phenomenon,  which  it  was  very  difficult 
to  account  for  otherwise  than  by  supernatural  causes,  but  when 
I  have  questioned  further,  I  have  always  found  that  these  "  stag- 
gering" wonders  were  not  even  specious  enough  to  be  looked 
upon  as  good  "tricks."  A  man  in  England,  who  gained  his 
whole  livelihood  as  a  conjuror,  would  soon  be  starved  to  death  if 
he  could  perform  no  better  miracles  than  those  which  are  wrought 
with  so  much  effect  in  Syria  and  Egypt ;  sometimes,  no  doubt,  a 
magician  will  make  a  good  hit  (Sir  Robert  once  said  a  "  good' 
thing"),  but  all  such  successes  range,  of  course,  under  the  head 
of  mere  "  tentative  miracles,"  as  distinguished  by  the  strong- 
brained  Paley. 


EOTHEN.  [CHAP.  ix. 


CHAPTER   IX. 

The  Sanctuary. 

I  CROSSED  the  plain  of  Esdraelon,  and  entered  amongst  the 
hills  of  beautiful  Galilee.  It  was  at  sunset  that  my  path  brought 
me  sharply  round  into  the  gorge  of  a  little  valley,  and  close  upon 
a  grey  mass  of  dwellings  that  lay  happily  nestled  in  the  lap  of 
the  mountain.  There  was  one  only  shining  point  still  touched 
with  the  light  of  the  sun,  who  had  set  for  all  besides ;  a  brave 
sign  this  to  "holy"  Shereef,  and  the  rest  of  my  Moslem  men,  for 
the  one  glittering  summit  was  the  head  of  a  minaret,  and  the 
rest  of  the  seeming  village  that  had  veiled  itself  so  meekly  un- 
der the  shades  of  evening  was  Christian  Nazareth ! 

Within  the  precincts  of  the  Latin  convent  in  which  I  was 
quartered,  there  stands  the  great  Catholic  church  which  encloses 
the  Sanctuary — the  dwelling  of  the  blessed  Virgin.*  This  is  a 

*  The  Greek  Church  does  not  recognize  this  as  the  true  Sanctuary,  and 
many  Protestants  look  upon  all  the  traditions,  by  which  it  is  attempted  to 
ascertain  the  holy  places  of  Palestine,  as  utterly  fabulous.  For  myself,  I  do 
not  mean  either  to  affirm  or  deny  the  correctness  of  the  opinion  which  has 
fixed  upon  this  as  the  true  site,  but  merely  to  mention  it  as  a  belief  enter- 
tained, without  question,  by  my  brethren  of  the  Latin  church,  whose  guest 
I  was  at  the  time.  It  would  be  a  great  aggravation  of  the  trouble  of  writing 
about  these  matters,  if  I  were  to  stop  in  the  midst  of  every  sentence  for  the 
purpose  of  saying  "  so-called"  or  "  so  it  is  said,"  and  would  besides  sound 
very  ungraciously ;  yet  I  am  anxious  to  be  literally  true  in  all  I  write.  Now, 
thus  it  is  that  I  mean  to  get  over  my  difficulty.  Whenever  in  this  great 
bundle  of  papers,  or  book  (if  book  it  is  to  be),  you  see  any  words  about  mat- 
ters of  religion  which  would  seem  to  involve  the  assertion  of  my  own 
opinion,  you  are  to  understand  me,  just  as  if  one  or  other  of  the  qualifying 
phrases  above  mentioned,  had  been  actually  inserted  in  every  sentence.  My 
general  direction  for  you  to  construe  me  thus,  will  render  all  that  I  write  as 
strictly  and  accurately  true,  as  if  I  had  every  time  lugged  in  a  formal  decla- 
ration of  the  fact,  that  I  was  merely  expressing  the  notions  of  other  people. 


CHAP,  ix.]  THE  SANCTUARY.  85 

grotto  of  about  ten  feet  either  way,  forming  a  little  chapel  or 
recess,  to  which  you  descend  by  steps.  It  is  decorated  with 
splendor :  on  the  left  hand  a  column  of  granite  hangs  from  the 
top  of  the  grotto,  to  within  a  few  feet  of  the  ground ;  immediately 
beneath  it  is  another  column  of  the  same  size,  which  rises  from 
the  ground  as  if  to  meet  the  one  above ;  but  between  this  and 
the  suspended  pillar,  there  is  an  interval  of  more  than  a  foot ; 
these  fragments  once  formed  a  single  column,  against  which  the 
angel  leant,  when  he  spoke,  and  told  to  Mary  the  mystery  of  her 
awful  blessedness.  Hard  by,  near  the  altar,  the  holy  Virgin 
was  kneeling. 

I  had  been  journeying  (cheerily  indeed,  for  the  voices  of  my 
followers  were  ever  within  my  hearing,  but  yet)  as  it  were,  in 
solitude,  for  I  had  no  comrade  to  whet  the  edge  of  my  reason, 
or  wake  me  from  my  noon-day  dreams.  I  was  left  all  alone  to 
be  taught  and  swayed  by  the  beautiful  circumstances  of  Pales- 
tine travelling — by  the  clime,  and  the  land,  and  the  name  of  the 
land  with  all  its  mighty  import — by  the  glittering  freshness  of 
the  sward,  and  the  abounding  masses  of  flowers  that  furnished 
my  sumptuous  pathway — by  the  bracing  and  fragrant  air,  that 
seemed  to  poise  me  in  my  saddle,  and  to  lift  me  along  like  a 
planet  appointed  to  glide  through  space. 

And  the  end  of  my  journey  was  Nazareth — the  home  of  the 
Blessed  Virgin !  In  the  first  dawn  of  my  manhood,  the  old 
painters  of  Italy  had  taught  me  their  dangerous  worship  of  the 
beauty  that  is  more  than  mortal,  but  those  images  all  seemed 
shadowy  now,  and  floated  before  me  so  dimly,  the  one  overcast- 
ing the  other,  that  they  left  me  no  one  sweet  idol  on  which  I 
could  look,  and  look  again,  and  say,  "  Maria  mia  !"  Yet  they 
left  me  more  than  an  idol — they  left  me  (for  to  them  I  am  wont 
to  trace  it)  a  faint  apprehension  of  Beauty  not  compassed  with 
lines  and  shadows — they  touched  me  (forgive,  proud  Marie  of 
Anjou  !)  they  touched  me  with  a  faith  in  loveliness  transcending 
mortal  shapes. 

I  came  to  Nazareth,  and  was  led  from  the  convent  to  the 
Sanctuary.  Long  fasting  will  sometimes  heat  my  brain,  and 
draw  me  away  out  of  the  world — will  disturb  my  judgment, 
confuse  my  notions  of  right  and  wrong,  and  weaken  my  power 


EOTHEN.  [CHAP.  ix. 


of  choosing  the  right ;  I  had  fasted  perhaps  too  long,  for  I  was 
fevered  with  the  zeal  of  an  insane  devotion  to  the  Heavenly 
Queen  of  Christendom.  But  I  knew  the  feebleness  of  this  gen- 
tle malady,  and  I  knew  how  easily  my  watchful  reason,  if  ever 
so  slightly  provoked,  would  drag  me  back  to  life ;  let  there  but 
come  one  chilling  breath  of  the  outer  world,  and  all  this  loving 
piety  would  cower,  and  fly  before  the  sound  of  my  own  bitter 
laugh.  And  so  as  I  went,  I  trod  tenderly,  not  looking  to  the 
right,  nor  to  the  left,  but  bending  my  eyes  to  the  ground. 

The  attending  friar  served  me  well — he  led  me  down  quietly, 
and  all  but  silently  to  the  Virgin's  home.  The  mystic  air  was 
so  burnt  with  the  consuming  flames  of  the  altar,  and  so  laden 
with  incense,  that  my  chest  labored  strongly,  and  heaved  with 
luscious  pain.  There — there  with  beating  heart  the  Virgin 
knelt,  and  listened  !  I  strived  to  grasp  and  hold  with  my  rivet- 
ed eyes  some  one  of  the  feigned  Madonnas,  but  of  all  the 
heaven-lit  faces  imagined  by  men,  there  was  none  that  would 
abide  with  me  in  this  the  very  Sanctuary.  Impatient  of  va- 
cancy, I  grew  madly  strong  against  Nature,  and  if  by  some 

awful   spell — some  impious  rite,  I  could Oh  !    most  sweet 

Religion  that  bid  me  fear  God,  and  be  pious,  and  yet  not  cease 
from  loving !  Religion  and  gracious  Custom  commanded  me 
that  I  fall  down  loyally,  and  kiss  the  rock  that  blessed  Mary 
pressed.  With  a  half  consciousness — with  the  semblance  of  a 
thrilling  hope  that  I  was  plunging  deep,  deep  into  my  first 
knowledge  of  some  most  holy  mystery,  or  of  some  new,  raptur- 
ous, and  daring  sin,  I  knelt,  and  bowed  down  my  face  till  I  met 
the  smooth  rock  with  my  lips.  One  moment — one  moment — 
my  heart,  or  some  old  Pagan  demon  within  me  woke  up,  and 
fiercely  bounded — my  bosom  was  lifted,  and  swung — as  though 
I  had  touched  Her  warm  robe.  One  moment — one  more,  and 
then — the  fever  had  left  me.  I  rose  from  my  knees.  I  felt 
hopelessly  sane.  The  mere  world  re-appeared.  My  good  old 
Monk  was  there,  dangling  his  key  with  listless  patience,  and  as 
he  guided  me  from  the  Church,  and  talked  of  the  Refectory, 
and  the  coming  repast,  I  listened  to  his  words  with  some  atten- 
tion and  pleasure. 


CHAP,  x.]  THE  MONKS  OF  THE  HOLY  LAND.  87 


CHAPTER  X. 

The  Monks  of  the  Holy  Land. 

WHENEVER  you  come  back  to  me  from  Palestine,  we  will  find 
some  "  golden  wine,"*  of  Lebanon,  that  we  may  celebrate  with 
apt  libations  the  monks  of  the  Holy  Land,  and,  though  the  poor 
fellows  be  theoretically  "  dead  to  the  world,"  we  will  drink  to 
every  man  of  them  a  good,  long  life,  and  a  merry  one  !  Grace- 
less is  the  traveller  who  forgets  his  obligations  to  these  saints 
upon  earth — little  love  has  he  for  merry  Christendom,  if  he  has  not 
rejoiced  with  great  joy  to  find  in  the  very  midst  of  water-drink- 
ing infidels,  those  lowly  monasteries,  in  which  the  blessed  juice 
of  the  grape  is  quaffed  in  peace.  Ay  !  Ay  !  We  will  fill  our 
glasses  till  they  look  like  cups  of  amber,  and  drink  profoundly  to 
our  gracious  hosts  in  Palestine. 

You  would  be  likely  enough  to  fancy  that  these  monastics  are 
men  who  have  retired  to  the  sacred  sites  of  Palestine,  from  an 
enthusiastic  longing  to  devote  themselves  to  the  exercise  of  reli- 
gion in  the  midst  of  the  very  land  on  which  its  first  seeds  were 
cast,  and  this  is  partially,  at  least,  the  case  with  the  monks  of 
the  Greek  Church,  but  it  is  not  with  enthusiasts  that  the  Catholic 
establishments  are  filled.  The  monks  of  the  Latin  convents  are 
chiefly  persons  of  the  peasant  class,  from  Italy  and  Spain,  who 
have  been  handed  over  to  these  remote  asylums,  by  order  of  their 
ecclesiastical  superiors,  and  can  no  more  account  for  their  being 
in  the  Holy  Land,  than  men  of  marching  regiments  can  explain 
why  they  are  in  "  stupid  quarters."  I  believe  that  these  monks 
are  for  the  most  part  well  conducted  men, — punctual  in  their 
ceremonial  duties,  and  altogether  humble-minded  Christians ; 
their  humility  is  not  at  all  misplaced,  for  you  see  at  a  glance 
(poor  fellows)  that  they  belong  to  the  "  lag  remove"  of  the  hu- 

*  "  Vino  d'oro." 


EOTHEN.  [CHAP.  x. 


man  race ;  if  the  taking  of  the  cowl  does  not  imply  a  complete 
renouncement  of  the  world,  it  is  at  least  (in  these  days)  a  bona 
fide  farewell  to  every  kind  of  useful  and  entertaining  knowledge, 
and  accordingly,  the  low  bestial  brow,  and  the  animal  caste  of 
those  almost  Bourbon  features,  show  plainly  enough  that  all  the 
intellectual  vanities  of  life  have  been  really  and  truly  abandon- 
ed. But  it  is  hard  to  quench  altogether  the  spirit  of  Inquiry  that 
stirs  in  the  human  breast,  and  accordingly  these  monks  inquire, 
— they  are  always  inquiring, — inquiring  for  "news  !"  Poor  fel- 
lows! they  could  scarcely  have  yielded  themselves  to  the  sway 
of  any  passion  more  difficult  of  gratification,  for  they  have  no 
means  of  communicating  with  the  journalized  world,  except 
through  European  travellers ;  and  these  in  consequence,  I  sup- 
pose, of  that  restlessness  and  irritability  which  generally  haunt 
their  wanderings,  seem  to  have  always  avoided  the  bore  of  giv- 
ing any  information  to  their  hosts  ;  as  for  me,  I  am  more  patient 
and  good-natured,  and  when  I  found  that  the  kind  monks  who 
gathered  round  me  at  Nazareth  were  longing  to  know  the  real 
truth  about  the  General  Bonaparte,  who  had  recoiled  from  the 
siege  of  Acre,  I  softened  my  heart  down  to  the  good  humor  of 
Herodotus,  and  calmly  began  to  "  sing  History,"  telling  my 
eager  hearers  of  the  French  Empire,  and  the  greatness  of  its 
glory,  and  of  Waterloo,  and  the  fall  of  Napoleon  !  Now  my 
story  of  this  marvellous  ignorance  on  the  part  of  the  poor  monks 
is  one  upon  which  (though  depending  on  my  own  testimony)  I 
look  "with  considerable  suspicion;"  it  is  quite  true  (how  silly  it 
would  be  to  invent  anything  so  witless  !)  and  yet  I  think  I  could 
satisfy  the  mind  of  a  "  reasonable  man,"  that  it  is  false.  Many 
of  the  older  monks  must  have  been  in  Europe  at  a  time  when  the 
Italy  and  the  Spain  from  which  they  came,  were  in  act  of  taking 
their  French  lessons,  or  had  parted  so  lately  with  their  teachers, 
that  not  to  know  of  "  the  Emperor,"  was  impossible,  and  these 
men  could  scarcely,  therefore,  have  failed  to  bring  with  them 
some  tidings  of  Napoleon's  career.  Yet  I  say  that  that  which  I  have 
written  is  true, — the  one  who  believes  because  I  have  said  it,  will 
be  right — (she  always  is),  while  poor  Mr.  "  reasonable  man," 
who  is  convinced  by  the  weight  of  my  argument,  will  be  com- 
pletely deceived. 


CHAP,  x.]         THE  MONKS  OF  THE  HOLY  LAND.  89 

In  Spanish  politics,  however,  the  monks  are  better  instructed  ; 
the  revenues  of  the  monasteries,  which  had  been  principally 
supplied  by  the  bounty  of  their  most  Catholic  Majesties,  have 
been  withheld  since  Ferdinand's  death,  and  the  interests  of  these 
establishments  being  thus  closely  involved  in  the  destinies  of 
Spain,  it  is  not  wonderful  that  the  brethren  should  be  a  little  more 
knowing  in  Spanish  affairs,  than  in  other  branches  of  history. 
Besides,  a  large  proportion  of  the  monks  were  natives  of  the 
Peninsula ;  to  these,  I  remember,  Mysseri's  familiarity  with  the 
Spanish  language  and  character  was  a  source  of  immense 
delight ;  they  were  always  gathering  around  him,  and  it  seemed  to 
me  that  they  treasured  like  gold  the  few  Castilian  words  which 
he  deigned  to  spare  them. 

Christianity  permits,  and  sanctions  the  drinking  of  wine,  and  of 
all  the  holy  brethren  of  Palestine,  there  are  none  who  hold  fast  to 
this  gladsome  rite  so  strenuously  as  the  monks  of  Damascus  ; 
not  that  they  are  more  zealous  Christians  than  the  rest  of  their 
fellows  in  the  Holy  Land,  but  that  they  have  better  wine. 
Whilst  I  was  at  Damascus,  I  had  my  quarters  at  the  Franciscan 
convent  there,  and  very  soon  after  my  arrival  I  asked  one  of  the 
monks  to  let  me  know  something  of  the  spots  which  deserved  to 
be  seen ;  I  made  my  inquiry  in  reference  to  the  associations 
with  which  the  city  had  been  hallowed  by  the  sojourn  and  adven- 
tures of  St.  Paul.  "  There  is  nothing  in  all  Damascus,"  said 
the  good  man,  "  half  so  well  worth  seeing  as  our  cellars,"  and 
forthwith  he  invited  me  to  go,  see,  and  admire  the  long  ranges 
of  liquid  treasure  which  he  and  his  brethren  had  laid  up  for 
themselves  on  earth.  And  these,  I  soon  found,  were  not  as  the 
treasures  of  the  miser  that  lie  in  unprofitable  disuse,  for  day  by 
day,  and  hour  by  hour,  the  golden  juice  ascended  from  the  dark 
recesses  of  the  cellar  to  the  uppermost  brains  of  the  monks; 
dear  old  fellows!  in  the  midst  of  that  solemn  land,  their  Christian 
laughter  rang  loudly  and  merrily — their  eyes  flashed  with 
unceasing  bonfires,  and  their  heavy  woollen  petticoats  could  no 
more  weigh  down  the  springiness  of  their  paces,  than  the  nominal 
gauze  of  a  danseuse  can  clog  her  bounding  step. 

The  monks  do  a  world  of  good  in  their  way  and  there  can  be 
no  doubting  that  previously  to  the  arrival  of  Bishop  Alexander, 


90  EOTHEN.  [CHAP.  x. 

with  his  numerous  young  family,  and  his  pretty  English  nurse- 
maids, they  were  the  chief  Propagandists  of  Christianity  in 
Palestine.  My  old  friends  of  the  Franciscan  convent  at  Jerusa- 
lem, some  time  since,  gave  proof  of  their  goodness  by  deliver- 
ing themselves  up  to  the  peril  of  death  for  the  sake  of  Duty. 
When  I  was  their  guest,  they  were  forty,  I  believe,  in  number, 
and  I  don't  recollect  that  there  was  one  of  them  whom  I  should 
have  looked  upon  as  a  desirable  life-holder  of  any  property  to 
which  I  might  be  entitled  in  expectancy.  Yet  these  forty  were 
reduced  in  a  few  days  to  nineteen  ;  the  Plague  was  the  messen- 
ger that  summoned  them  to  a  taste  of  real  death,  but  the  circum- 
stances under  which  they  perished  are  rather  curious,  and 
though  I  have  no  authority  for  the  story  except  an  Italian  news- 
paper, I  harbor  no  doubt  of  its  truth,  for  the  facts  were  detailed 
with  minuteness,  and  strictly  corresponded  with  all  that  I  knew 
of  the  poor  fellows  to  whom  they  related. 

It  was  about  three  months  after  the  time  of  my  leaving  Jeru- 
salem, that  the  Plague  set  his  spotted  foot  on  the  Holy  City. 
The  monks  felt  great  alarm ;  they  did  not  shrink  from  their 
duty,  but  for  its  performance  they  chose  a  plan  most  sadly  well 
fitted  for  bringing  down  upon  them  the  very  death  which  they 
were  striving  to  ward  off.  They  imagined  themselves  almost 
safe,  so  long  as  they  remained  within  their  walls ;  but  then  it 
was  quite  needful  that  the  Catholic  Christians  of  the  place,  who 
had  always  looked  to  the  convent  for  the  supply  of  their  spiritual 
wants,  should  receive  the  aids  of  religion  in  the  hour  of  death. 
A  single  monk,  therefore,  was  chosen  either  by  lot,  or  by  some 
other  fair  appeal  to  Destiny ;  being  thus  singled  out,  he  was  to 
go  forth  into  the  plague-stricken  city,  and  to  perform  with  exact- 
ness his  priestly  duties  ;  then  he  was  to  return,  not  to  the  interior 
of  the  Convent,  for  fear  of  infecting  his  brethren,  but  to  a  de- 
tached building  (which  I  remember)  belonging  to  the  establish- 
ment, but  at  some  little  distance  from  the  inhabited  rooms ;  he 
was  provided  with  a  bell,  and  at  a  certain  hour  in  the  morning 
he  was  ordered  to  ring  it,  if  he  could  ;  but  if  no  sound  was  heard 
at  the  appointed  time,  then  knew  his  brethren  that  he  was  either 
delirious,  or  dead,  and  another  martyr  was  sent  forth  to  take  his 
place.  In  this  way  twenty-one  of  the  monks  were  carried  off. 


CHAP,  x.]          THE  MONKS  OF  THE  HOLY  LAND.  fll 

One  cannot  well  fail  to  admire  the  steadiness  with  which  the  dis- 
mal scheme  was  carried  through ;  but  if  there  be  any  truth  in 
the  notion,  that  disease  may  be  invited  by  a  frightening  imagi- 
nation, it  is  difficult  to  conceive  a  more  dangerous  plan  than  that 
which  was  chosen  by  these  poor  fellows.  The  anxiety  with 
which  they  must  have  expected  each  day  the  sound  of  the  bell — 
the  silence  that  reigned  instead  of  it,  and  then  the  drawing  of 
the  lots  (the  odds  against  death  being  one  point  lower  than  yes- 
terday) and  the  going  forth  of  the  newly  doomed  man — all  this 
must  have  widened  the  gulf  that  opens  to  the  shades  below ; 
when  his  victim  had  already  suffered  so  much  of  mental  torture, 
it  was  but  easy  work  for  big,  bullying  Pestilence  to  follow  a  for- 
lorn monk  from  the  beds  of  the  dying,  and  wrench  away  his 
life  from  him,  as  he  lay  all  alone  in  an  outhouse. 

In  most,  I  believe  in  all  of  the  Holy  Land  convents,  there  are 
two  personages  so  strangely  raised  above  their  brethren  in  all 
that  dignifies  humanity,  that  their  bearing  the  same  habit — their 
dwelling  under  the  same  roof — their  worshipping  the  same  God 
(consistent  as  all  this  is  with  the  spirit  of  their  religion),  yet 
strikes  the  mind  with  a  sense  of  wondrous  incongruity  ;  the  men 
I  speak  of  are  the  "  Padre  Superiore,"  and  the  "  Padre  Mission- 
ario."  The  former  is  the  supreme  and  absolute  governor  of  the 
establishment,  over  which  he  is  appointed  to  rule ;  the  latter  is 
entrusted  with  the  more  active  of  the  spiritual  duties  which 
attach  to  the  Pilgrim  Church.  He  is  the  shepherd  of  the  good 
Catholic  flock  whose  pasture  is  prepared  in  the  midst  of  Mussul- 
mans and  schismatics — he  keeps  the  light  of  the  true  faith  ever 
vividly  before  their  eyes — reproves  their  vices — supports  them 
in  their  good  resolves — consoles  them  in  their  afflictions,  and 
teaches  them  to  hate  the  Greek  church.  Such  are  his  labors, 
and  you  may  conceive  that  great  tact  must  be  needed  for  con- 
ducting with  success  the  spiritual  interests  of  the  church  under 
circumstances  so  odd  as  those  which  surround  it  in  Palestine. 

But  the  position  of  the  Padre  Superiore  is  still  more  delicate  ; 
he  is  almost  unceasingly  in  treaty  with  the  powers  that  be,  and 
the  worldly  prosperity  of  the  establishment  over  which  he  pre- 
sides, is  in  great  measure  dependent  upon  the  extent  of  diplo- 
matic skill  which  he  can  employ  in  its  favor.  I  know  not  from 


92  EOTHEN.  [.CHAP.  x. 

what  class  of  churchmen  these  personages  are  chosen,  for  there 
is  a  mystery  attending  their  origin,  and  the  circumstance  of  their 
being  stationed  in  these  convents,  which  Rome  does  not  suffer  to 
be  penetrated  :  I  have  heard  it  said  that  they  are  men  of  great 
note,  and  perhaps,  of  too  high  ambition  in  the  Catholic  Hierar- 
chy, who,  having  fallen  under  the  grave  censure  of  the  Church, 
are  banished  for  fixed  periods  to  these  distant  monasteries.  I 
believe  that  the  term  during  which  they  are  condemned  to 
remain  in  the  Holy  Land,  is  from  eight  to  twelve  years.  By 
the  natives  of  the  country,  as  well  as  by  the  rest  of  the  brethren, 
they  are  looked  upon  as  superior  beings ;  and  rightly  too,  for 
nature  seems  to  have  crowned  them  in  her  own  true  way. 

The  chief  of  the  Jerusalem  convent  was  a  noble  creature  ; 
his  worldly  and  spiritual  authority  seemed  to  have  surrounded 
him,  as  it  were,  with  a  kind  of  "  Court/'  and  the  manly  grace- 
fulness of  his  bearing  did  honor  to  the  throne  which  he  filled. 
There  were  no  lords  of  the  bedchamber,  and  no  gold  sticks  and 
stones  in  waiting,  yet  everybody  who  approached  him  looked  as 
though  he  were  being  "  presented  " — every  interview  which  he 
granted  wore  the  air  of  an  "  audience  ;"  the  brethren,  as  often 
as  they  came  near,  bowed  low,  and  kissed  his  hand,  and  if  he 
went  out,  the  Catholics  of  the  place  that  hovered  about  the  con- 
vent, would  crowd  around  him  with  devout  affection,  and  almost 
scramble  for  the  blessing  which  his  touch  could  give.  He  bore 
his  honors  all  serenely,  as  though  calmly  conscious  of  his  power 
to  "  bind  and  to  loose." 


CHAP,  xi.]  FROM  NAZARETH  TO  TIBERIAS.  93 


CHAPTER  XI. 

From  Nazareth  to  Tiberias. 

NEITHER  old  "  Sacred  "*  himself,  nor  any  of  his  helpers,  knew 
the  road  which  I  meant  to  take  from  Nazareth  to  the  Sea  of 
Galilee,  and  from  thence  to  Jerusalem,  so  I  was  forced  to  add 
another  to  my  party,  by  hiring  a  guide.  The  associations  of 
Nazareth,  as  well  as  my  kind  feeling  towards  the  hospitable 
monks,  whose  guest  I  had  been,  inclined  me  to  set  at  naught  the 
advice  which  I  had  received  against  employing  Christians.  I 
accordingly  engaged  a  lithe,  active  young  Nazarene,  who  was 
recommended  to  me  by  the  monks,  and  who  affected  to  be 
familiar  with  the  line  of  country  through  which  I  intended  to 
pass.  My  disregard  of  the  popular  prejudice  against  Chris- 
tians was  not  justified  in  this  particular  instance,  by  the  result 
of  my  choice.  This  you  will  see  by  and  by. 

I  passed  by  Cana,  and  the  house  in  which  the  water  had  been 
turned  into  wine — I  came  to  the  field  in  which  our  Saviour  had 
rebuked  the  Scotch  Sabbath-keepers  of  that  period,  by  suffering 
his  disciples  to  pluck  corn  on  the  Lord's  day  ;  I  rode  over  the 
ground  on  which  the  fainting  multitude  had  been  fed,  and  they 
showed  me  some  massive  fragments — the  relics,  they  said,  of 
that  wondrous  banquet,  now  turned  into  stone.  The  petrifac- 
tion was  most  complete. 

I  ascended  the  height  on  which  our  Lord  was  standing  when 
he  wrought  the  miracle.  The  hill  was  lofty  enough  to  show  me 
the  fairness  of  the  land  on  all  sides,  but  I  have  an  ancient  love 
for  the  mere  features  of  a  lake,  and  so  forgetting  all  else  when 
I  reached  the  summit,  I  looked  away  eagerly  to  the  Eastward. 
There  she  lay,  the  Sea  of  Galilee.  Less  stern  than  Wastwater 

*  Shereef. 


94  EOTHEN.  [CHAP.  xi. 

— less  fair  than  gentle  Winder-mere,  she  had  still  the  winning 
ways  of  an  English  lake  ;  she  caught  from  the  smiling  heavens 
unceasing  light,  and  changeful  phases  of  beauty,  and  with  all 
this  brightness  on  her  face,  she  yet  clung  so  fondly  to  the  dull 
he-looking  mountain  at  her  side  as  though  she  would 

"  Soothe  him  with  her  finer  fancies, 
Touch  him  with  her  lighter  thought."* 

If  one  might  judge  of  men's  real  thoughts  by  their  writings, 
it  would  seem  that  there  are  people  who  can  visit  an  interesting 
locality,  and  follow  up  continuously  the  exact  train  of  thought 
which  ought  to  be  suggested  by  the  historical  associations  of  the 
place.  A  person  of  this  sort  can  go  to  Athens,  and  think  of 
nothing  later  than  the  age  of  Pericles — can  live  with  the  Scipios 
as  long  as  he  stays  in  Rome — can  go  up  in  a  balloon,  and  think 
how  resplendently  in  former  times  the  now  vacant  and  desolate 
air  was  peopled  with  angels — how  prettily  it  was  crossed  at  in- 
tervals by  the  rounds  of  Jacob's  ladder  !  I  don't  possess  this 
power  at  all :  it  is  only  by  snatches,  and  for  few  moments  to- 
gether,  that  I  can  really  associate  a  place  with  its  proper  history. 

"  There  at  Tiberias,  and  along  this  western  shore  towards  the 
North,  and  upon  the  bosom  too  of  the  lake,  our  Saviour  and  his  dis- 
ciples  "  away  flew  those  recollections,  and  my  mind  strained 

Eastward,  because  that  that  farthest  shore  was  the  end  of  the 
world  that  belongs  to  man  the  dweller — the  beginning  of  the 
other  and  veiled  world  that  is  held  by  the  strange  race,  whose 
life  (like  the  pastime  of  Satan)  is  a  "  going  to  and  fro  upon  the 
face  of  the  earth."  From  those  grey  hills  right  away  to  the 
gates  of  Bagdad  stretched  forth  the  mysterious  "  Desert  " — not 
a  pale,  void,  sandy  tract,  but  a  land  abounding  in  rich  pastures 
— a  land  without  cities  or  towns,  without  any  "  respectable  " 
people,  or  any  "  respectable  things,"  yet  yielding  its  eighty 
thousand  cavalry  to  the  beck  of  a  few  old  men.  But  once 
more — "  Tiberias — the  plain  of  Gennesareth — the  very  earth  on 
which  I  stood — that  the  deep,  low  tones  of  the  Saviour's  voice 
should  have  gone  forth  into  Eternity  from  out  of  the  midst  of 

*  Tennvson. 


CHAP,  xi.]  FROM  NAZARETH  TO  TIBERIAS.  95 

these  hills,  and  these  valleys  !" — Ay,  Ay,  but  yet  again  the  calm 
face  of  the  Lake  was  uplifted,  and  smiled  upon  my  eyes  with 
such  familiar  gaze,^that  the  "  deep  low  tones  "  were  hushed — 
the  listening  multitudes  all  passed  away,  and  instead  there  came 
to  me  a  dear  old  memory  from  over  the  seas  in  England — a 
memory  sweeter  than  the  veriest  Gospel  to  that  poor,  wilful 
mortal,  me. 

I  went  to  Tiberias,  and  soon  got  afloat  upon  the  water.  In 
the  evening  I  took  up  my  quarters  in  the  Catholic  Church,  and, 
the  building  being  large  enough,  the  whole  of  my  party  were 
admitted  to  the  benefit  of  the  same  shelter.  With  portmanteaus, 
and  carpet  bags,  and  books,  and  maps,  and  fragrant  tea,  Mys- 
seri  soon  made  me  a  home  on  the  southern  side  of  the  church. 
One  of  old  Shereefs  helpers  was  an  enthusiastic  Catholic,  and 
was  greatly  delighted  at  having  so  sacred  a  lodging.  He  lit  up 
the  altar  with  a  number  of  tapers,  and  when  his  preparations 
were  complete,  he  began  to  perform  his  orisons  in  the  strangest 
manner  imaginable  ;  his  lips  muttered  the  prayers  of  the  Latin 
Church,  but  he  bowed  himself  down,  and  laid  his  forehead  to 
the  stones  beneath  him,  after  the  manner  of  a  Mussulman.  The 
universal  aptness  of  a  religious  system  for  all  stages  of  civilisa- 
tion, and  for  all  sorts  and  conditions  of  men,  well  befits  its 
claim  of  divine  origin.  She  is  of  all  nations,  and  of  all  times, 
that  wonderful  Church  of  Rome  ! 

Tiberias  is  one  of  the  four  holy  cities,*  according  to  the 
Talmud,  and  it  is  from  this  place  or  the  immediate  neighborhood 
of  it,  that  the  Messiah  is  to  arise. 

Except  at  Jerusalem,  never  think  of  attempting  to  sleep  in  a 
"  holy  city."  Old  Jews  from  all  parts  of  the  world  go  to  lay 
their  bones  upon  the  sacred  soil,  and  as  these  people  never  re- 
turn to  their  homes,  it  follows  that  any  domestic  vermin  which 
they  may  bring  with  them  are  likely  to  become  permanently 
resident,  so  that  the  population  is  continually  increasing.  No 
recent  census  had  been  taken  when  I  was  at  Tiberias,  but  I 
know  that  the  congregation  of  fleas  which  attended  at  my  church 

*  The  other  three  cities  held  holy  by  Jews  are  Jersualem,  Hebron,  and 
Safet. 


96  EOTHEN.  [CHAP.  xi. 

alone,  must  have  been  something  enormous.  It  was  a  carnal, 
self-seeking  congregation,  wholly  inattentive  to  the  service 
which  was  going  on,  and  devoted  to  the  one  object  of  having 
my  blood.  The  fleas  of  all  nations  were  there.  The  smug, 
steady,  importunate  flea  from  Holy  well  street — the  pert,  jump- 
ing "  puce"  from  hungry  France — the  wary,  watchful  "  pulce" 
with  his  poisoned  stiletto — the  vengeful  "pulga"  of  Castile  with 
his  ugly  knife — the  German  "floh"  with  his  knife  and  fork — 
insatiate — not  rising  from  table — whole  swarms  from  all  the 
Russias,  and  Asiatic  hordes  unnumbered — all  these  were  there, 
and  all  rejoiced  in  one  great  international  feast.  I  could  no 
more  defend  myself  against  my  enemies,  than  if  I  had  been 
"  pain  a  discretion  "  in  the  hands  of  a  French  patriot,  or  Eng- 
lish gold  in  the  claws  of  a  Pennsylvanian  Quaker.  After 
passing  a  night  like  this,  you  are  glad  to  pick  up  the  wretched 
remains  of  your  body,  long,  long  before  morning  dawns.  Your 
skin  is  scorched — your  temples  throb — your  lips  feel  withered 
and  dried — your  burning  eye-balls  are  screwed  inwards  against 
the  brain.  You  have  no  hope  but  only  in  the  saddle,  and  the 
freshness  of  the  morning  air. 


CHAP,  xii.]  MY  FIRST  BIVOUAC.  97 


CHAPTER  XII. 

My  first  bivouac. 

THE  course  of  the  Jordan  is  from  the  north  to  the  south,  and  in 
that  direction,  with  very  little  of  devious  winding,  it  carries  the 
shining  waters  of  Galilee  straight  down  into  the  solitudes  of  the 
Dead  Sea.  Speaking  roughly,  the  river  in  that  meridian,  is  a 
boundary  between  the  people  living  under  roofs,  and  the  tented 
tribes  that  wander  on  the  farther  side.  And  so,  as  I  went  down 
in  my  way  from  Tiberias  towards  Jerusalem,  along  the  western 
bank  of  the  stream,  my  thinking  all  propended  to  the  ancient 
world  of  herdsmen,  and  warriors,  that  lay  so  close  over  my 
bridle  arm. 

If  a  man,  and  an  Englishman,  be  not  born  of  his  mother  with 
a  natural  Chiffney-bit  in  his  mouth,  there  comes  to  him  a  time 
for  loathing  the  wearisome  ways  of  society — a  time  for  not  liking 
tamed  people — a  time  for  not  dancing  quadrilles — not  sitting  in 
pews — a  time  for  pretending  that  Milton,  and  Shelley,  and  all 
sorts  of  mere  dead  people,  were  greater  in  death  than  the  first 
living  Lord  of  the  Treasury — a  time  in  short  for  scoffing  and 
railing — for  speaking  lightly  of  the  very  opera,  and  all  our  most 
cherished  institutions.  It  is  from  nineteen,  to  two  or  three  and 
twenty  perhaps,  that  this  war  of  the  man  against  men  is  like  to 
be  waged  most  sullenly.  You  are  yet  in  this  smiling  England, 
but  you  find  yourself  wending  away  to  the  dark  sides  of  her 
mountains, — climbing  the  dizzy  crags, — exulting  in  the  fellow- 
ship of  mists  and  clouds,  and  watching  the  storms  how  they 
gather,  or  proving  the  mettle  of  your  mare  upon  the  broad  and 
dreary  downs,  because  that  you  feel  congenially  with  the  yet 
unparcelled  earth.  A  little  while  you  are  free,  and  unlabelled, 
like  the  ground  that  you  compass,  but  Civilisation  is  coming, 
and  coming  j  you,  and  your  much  loved  waste  lands  will  be 
8 


EOTHEN.  [CHAP.  xii. 


surely  inclosed,  and  sooner,  or  later,  you  will  be  brought  down 
to  a  state  of  utter  usefulness — the  ground  will  be  curiously 
sliced  into  acres,  and  roods,  and  perches,  and  you,  for  all  you 
sit  so  smartly  in  your  saddle,  you  will  be  caught — you  will 
be  taken  up  from  travel,  as  a  colt  from  grass,  to  be  trained, 
and  tired,  and  matched,  and  run.  All  this  in  time,  but  first 
come  continental  tours,  and  the  moody  longing  for  Eastern 
travel ;  the  downs  and  the  moors  of  England  can  hold  you  no 
longer ;  with  larger  stride  you  burst  away  from  these  slips  and 
patches  of  free  land — you  thread  your  path  through  the  crowds 
of  Europe,  and  at  last  on  the  banks  of  Jordan,  you  joyfully 
know  that  you  are  upon  the  very  frontier  of  all  accustomed  re- 
spectabilities. There,  on  the  other  side  of  the  river  (you  can 
swim  it  with  one  arm),  there  reigns  the  people  that  will  be  like 
to  put  you  to  death  for  not  being  a  vagrant,  for  not  being  a  rob- 
her,  for  not  being  armed,  and  houseless.  There  is  comfort  in 
that — health,  comfort,  and  strength  to  one  who  is  dying  from 
very  weariness  of  that  poor,  dear,  middle-aged,  deserving,  ac- 
complished, pedantic,  and  pains-taking  governess  Europe. 

I  had  ridden  for  some  hours  along  the  right  bank  of  Jordan, 
when  I  came  to  the  Djesr  el  Medjame  (an  old  Roman  bridge,  I 
believe),  which  crossed  the  river.  My  Nazarene  guide  was 
riding  ahead  of  the  party,  and  now,  to  my  surprise  and  delight,  he 
turned  leftwards,  and  led  on  over  the  bridge.  I  knew  that  the 
true  road  to  Jerusalem  must  be  mainly  by  the  right  bank  of 
Jordan,  but  I  supposed  that  my  guide  was  crossing  the  bridge  at 
this  spot  in  order  to  avoid  some  bend  in  the  river,  and  that  he 
knew  of  a  ford  lower  down  by  which  we  should  regain  the  west- 
ern bank.  I  made  no  question  about  the  road,  for  I  was  but 
too  glad  to  set  my  horse's  hoofs  upon  the  land  of  the  wandering 
tribes.  None  of  my  party,  except  the  Nazarene,  knew  the 
country.  On  we  went  through  rich  pastures  upon  the  Eastern 
side  of  the  water.  I  looked  for  the  expected  bend  of  the  river, 
but  far  as  I  could  see,  it  kept  a  straight  southerly  course  ;  I 
still  left  my  guide  unquestioned. 

The  Jordan  is  not  a  perfectly  accurate  boundary  betwixt  roofs 
and  tents,  for  soon  after  passing  the  bridge  I  came  upon  a  clus- 
ler  of  huts.  Some  time  afterwards  the  guide,  upon  being  closely 


CHAP,  xii.]  MY  FIRST  BIVOUAC. 


questioned  by  my  servants,  confessed  that  the  village  which  we 
had  left  behind  was  the  last  that  we  should  see,  but  he  de- 
clared that  he  knew  a  spot  at  which  we  should  find  an  encamp- 
ment of  friendly  Bedouins,  who  would  receive  me  with  all  hos- 
pitality. I  had  long  determined  not  to  leave  the  East  without 
seeing  something  of  the  wandering  tribes,  but  I  had  looked  for- 
ward to  this  as  a  pleasure  to  be  found  in  the  Desert  between  El 
Arish  and  Egypt — I  had  no  idea  that  the  Bedouins  on  the  East 
of  Jordan  were  accessible.  My  delight  was  so  great  at  the  near 
prospect  of  bread  and  salt  in  the  tent  of  an  Arab  warrior,  that  I 
wilfully  allowed  my  guide  to  go  on  and  mislead  me ;  I  saw  that 
he  was  taking  me  out  of  the  straight  route  towards  Jerusalem, 
and  was  drawing  me  into  the  midst  of  the  Bedouins,  but  the  idea 
of  his  betraying  me  seemed  (I  know  not  why)  so  utterly  absurd, 
that  I  could  not  entertain  it  for  a  moment;  I  fancied  it  possible 
that  the  fellow  had  taken  me  out  of  my  route  in  order  to  attempt 
some  little  mercantile  enterprise  with  the  tribe  for  which  he  was 
seeking,  and  I  was  glad  of  the  opportunity  which  I  might  thus 
gain  of  coming  in  contact  with  the  wanderers. 

Not  long  after  passing  the  village,  a  horseman  met  us  ;  it  ap- 
peared that  some  of  the  cavalry  of  Ibrahim  Pasha  had  crossed 
the  river  for  the  sake  of  the  rich  pastures  on  the  eastern  bank, 
and  that  this  man  was  one  of  the  troopers ;  he  stopped,  and 
saluted ;  he  was  obviously  surprised  at  meeting  an  unarmed,  or 
half-armed  cavalcade,  and  at  last  fairly  told  us  that  we  were  on 
the  wrong  side  of  the  river,  and  that  if  we  proceeded,  we  must 
lay  our  account  with  falling  amongst  robbers.  All  this  while, 
and  throughout  the  day,  my  Nazarene  kept  well  ahead  of  the 
party,  and  was  constantly  up  in  his  stirrups,  straining  forward, 
and  searching  the  distance  for  some  objects  which  still  remained 
unseen. 

For  the  rest  of  the  day  we  saw  no  human  being ;  we  pushed  on 
eagerly  in  the  hope  of  coming  up  with  the  Bedouins  before  night- 
fall. Night  came,  and  we  still  went  on  in  our  way  till  about  ten 
o'clock.  Then  the  thorough  darkness  of  the  night  and  the  wea>. 
riness  of  our  beasts  (which  had  already  done  two  good  days' 
journey  in  one)  forced  us  to  determine  upon  coming  to  a  stand- 
still. Upon  the  heights  to  the  eastward  we  saw  lights ;  these 


100  EOTHEN.  [CHAP.  xn. 

shone  from  caves  on  the  mountain-side,  inhabited,  as  the  Naza- 
rene  told  us,  by  rascals  of  a  low  sort — not  real  Bedouins — men 
whom  we  might  frighten  into  harmlessness,  but  from  whom  there 
was  no  willing  hospitality  to  be  expected. 

We  heard  at  a  little  distance  the  brawling  of  a  rivulet,  and  on 
the  banks  of  this  it  was  determined  to  establish  our  bivouac ;  we 
soon  found  the  stream,  and  following  its  course  for  a  few  yards, 
came  to  a  spot  which  was  thought  to  be  fit  for  our  purpose.  It 
was  a  sharply  cold  night  in  February,  and  when  I  dismounted  I 
found  myself  standing  upon  some  wet,  rank  herbage,  that  pro- 
mised  ill  for  the  comfort  of  our  resting-place.  I  had  bad  hopes 
of  a  fire,  for  the  pitchy  darkness  of  the  night  was  a  great  obsta- 
cle to  any  successful  search  for  fuel,  and  besides,  the  boughs  of 
trees  or  bushes  would  be  so  full  of  sap  in  this  early  spring,  that 
they  would  not  be  easily  persuaded  to  burn.  However,  we  were 
not  likely  to  submit  to  a  dark  and  cold  bivouac  without  an  effort, 
and  my  fellows  groped  forward  through  the  darkness,  till  after 
advancing  a  few  paces,  they  were  happily  stopped  by  a  complete 
barrier  of  dead  prickly  bushes.  Before  our  swords  could  be 
drawn  to  reap  this  glorious  harvest,  it  was  found,  to  our  surprise, 
that  the  precious  fuel  was  already  hewn,  and  strewed  along  the 
ground  in  a  thick  mass.  A  spot  fit  for  the  fire  was  found  with 
some  difficulty,  for  the  earth  was  moist,  and  the  grass  high  and 
rank.  At  last  there  was  a  clicking  of  flint  and  steel,  and  pre- 
sently there  stood  out  from  darkness  one  of  the  tawny  faces  of 
my  muleteers,  bent  down  to  near  the  ground,  and  suddenly  lit  up 
by  the  glowing  of  the  spark,  which  he  courted  with  careful 
breath.  Before  long  there  was  a  particle  of  dry  fibre,  or  leaf, 
that  kindled  to  a  tiny  flame ;  then  another  was  lit  from  that,  and 
then  another.  Then  small,  crisp  twigs,  little  bigger  than  bod- 
kins, were  laid  athwart  the  growing  fire.  The  swelling  cheeks 
of  the  muleteer  laid  level  with  the  earth,  blew  tenderly  at  first, 
and  then  more  boldly,  upon  the  young  flame,  which  was  daintily 
nursed  and  fed,  and  fed  more  plentifully  when  it  gained  good 
strength.  At  last  a  whole  armful  of  dry  bushes  was  piled  up 
over  the  fire,  and  presently  with  loud,  cheery  cracking  and  crack- 
ling, a  royal  tall  blaze  shot  up  from  the  earth,  and  showed  me 
once  more  the  shapes  and  faces  of  my  men,  and  the  dim  outlines 
of  the  horses  and  mules  that  stood  grazing  hard  by. 


CHAP,  xii.]  MY  FIRST  BIVOUAC.  101 

My  servants  busied  themselves  in  unpacking  the  baggage,  as 
though  we  had  arrived  at  an  hotel — Shereef  and  his  helpers  un- 
saddled their  cattle.  We  had  left  Tiberias  without  the  slightest 
idea  that  we  were  to  make  our  way  to  Jerusalem  along  the  deso- 
late side  of  the  Jordan,  and  my  servants  (generally  provident  in 
those  matters)  had  brought  with  them  only,  I  think,  some  unlea- 
vened bread,  and  a  rocky  fragment  of  goat's-milk  cheese. 
These  treasures  were  produced.  Tea,  and  the  contrivances  for 
making  it,  were  always  a  standing  part  of  my  baggage.  My 
men  gathered  in  circle  around  the  fire.  The  Nazarene  was  in 
a  false  position,  from  having  misled  us  so  strangely,  and  he 
would  have  shrunk  back,  poor  devil,  into  the  cold  and  outer 
darkness,  but  I  made  him  draw  near,  and  share  the  luxuries  of 
the  night.  My  quilt  and  my  pelisse  were  spread,  and  the  rest 
of  my  party  had  all  their  capotes,  or  pelisses,  or  robes  of  some 
sort,  which  furnished  their  couches.  The  men  gathered  in  cir- 
cle, some  kneeling,  some  sitting,  some  lying  reclined  around  our 
common  hearth.  Sometimes  on  one,  sometimes  on  another,  the 
flickering  light  would  glare  more  fiercely.  Sometimes  it  was 
the  good  Shereef  that  seemed  the  foremost,  as  he  sat  with  vene- 
rable beard,  the  image  of  manly  piety — unknowing  of  all 
geography,  unknowing  where  he  was,  or  whither  he  might  go, 
but  trusting  in  the  goodness  of  God,  and  the  clenching  power  of 
fate,  and  the  good  star  of  the  Englishman.  Sometimes  like 
marble,  the  classic  face  of  the  Greek  Mysseri  would  catch  the 
sudden  light,  and  then  again  by  turns  the  ever-perturbed  Dthe- 
metri,  with  his  odd  Chinaman's  eyes,  and  bristling,  terrier-like 
moustache,  shone  forth  illustrious. 

I  always  liked  the  men  who  attended  me  on  these  Eastern 
travels,  for  they  were  all  of  them  brave,  cheery-hearted  fellows, 
and  although  their  following  my  career  brought  upon  them  a 
pretty  large  share  of  those  toils  and  hardships  which  are  so  much 
more  amusing  to  gentlemen  than  to  servants,  yet  not  one  of 
them  ever  uttered  or  hinted  a  syllable  of  complaint,  or  even 
affected  to  put  on  an  air  of  resignation  ;  I  always  liked  them, 
but  never  perhaps  so  much  as  when  they  were  thus  grouped 
together  under  the  light  of  the  bivouac  fire.  I  felt  towards 
them  as  my  comrades,  rather  than  as  my  servants,  and  took 


102  EOTHEN.  [CHAP.  xn. 

delight  in  breaking  bread  with  them,  and  merrily  passing  the 
cup. 

The  love  of  tea  is  a  glad  source  of  fellow-feeling  between 
the  Englishman  and  the  Asiatic ;  in  Persia  it  is  drunk  by  all, 
and  although  it  is  a  luxury  that  is  rarely  within  the  reach  of  the 
Osmanlees,  there  are  few  of  them  who  do  not  know  and  love  the 
blessed  "tchai."*  Our  camp-kettle  filled  from  the  brook  hum- 
med doubtfully  for  awhile — then  busily  bubbled  under  the  side- 
long glare  of  the  flames — cups  clinked  and  rattled — the  fragrant 
steam  ascended,  and  soon  this  little  circlet  in  the  wilderness 
grew  warm  and  genial  as  my  lady's  drawing-room. 

And  after  this  there  came  the  tchibouque — great  comforter  of 
those  that  are  hungry  and  way-worn.  And  it  has  this  virtue — 
it  helps  to  destroy  the  gene  and  awkwardness  which  one  some- 
times feels  at  being  in  company  with  one's  dependents;  for 
whilst  the  amber  is  at  your  lips,  there  is  nothing  ungracious  in 
your  remaining  silent,  or  speaking  pithily  in  short  inter-whiff 
sentences.  And  for  us  that  night  there  was  pleasant  and  plen- 
tiful matter  of  talk ;  for  the  where  we  should  be  on  the  morrow, 
and  the  wherewithal  we  should  be  fed — whether  by  some  ford 
we  should  regain  the  western  banks  of  Jordan,  or  find  bread  and 
salt  under  the  tents  of  a  wandering  tribe,  or  whether  we  should 
fall  into  the  hands  of  the  Philistines,  and  so  come  to  see  Death — 
the  last,  and  greatest  of  all  "  the  fine  sights"  that  there  be — 
these  were  questionings  not  dull  nor  wearisome  to  us,  for  we 
were  all  concerned  in  the  answers.  And  it  was  not  an  ill- 
imagined  morrow  that  we  probed  with  our  sharp  guesses,  for  the 
lights  of  those  low  Philistines — the  men  of  the  caves  still  hung 
over  our  heads,  and  we  knew  by  their  yells  that  the  fire  of  our 
bivouac  had  shown  us. 

At  length  we  thought  it  well  to  seek  for  sleep.  Our  plans 
were  laid  for  keeping  up  a  good  watch  through  the  night.  My 
quilt,  and  my  pelisse,  and  my  cloak,  were  spread  out  so  that 
I  might  lie  spokewise,  with  my  feet  towards  the  central  fire.  I 
wrapped  my  limbs  daintily  round,  and  gave  myself  positive 
orders  to  sleep  like  a  veteran  soldier.  But  I  found  that  my 
attempt  to  sleep  upon  the  earth  that  God  gave  me  was  more 
new  and  strange  than  I  had  fancied  it.  I  had  grown  used  to 


CHAP,  xii.]  MY  FIRST  BIVOUAC.  103 

the  scene  which  was  before  me  whilst  I  was  sitting,  or  reclining 
by  the  side  of  the  fire,  but  now  that  I  laid  myself  down  at  length, 
it  was  the  deep  black  mystery  of  the  heavens  that  hung  over  my 
eyes — not  an  earthly  thing  in  the  way  from  my  own  very  fore- 
head right  up  to  the  end  of  all  space.  I  grew  proud  of  my 
boundless  bed-chamber.  I  might  have  "  found  sermons"  in  all 
this  greatness  (if  I  had  I  should  surely  have  slept),  but  such  was 
not  then  my  way.  If  this  cherished  Self  of  mine  had  built  the 
Universe,  I  should  have  dwelt  with  delight  on  the  "  wonders  of 
creation."  As  it  was,  I  felt  rather  the  vain-glory  of  my  pro- 
motion from  out  of  mere  rooms  and  houses  into  the  midst  of  that 
grand,  dark,  infinite  palace. 

And  then,  too,  my  head,  far  from  the  fire,  was  in  cold  lati- 
tudes, and  it  seemed  to  me  strange  that  I  should  be  lying  so 
still,  and  passive,  whilst  the  sharp  night  breeze  walked  free 
over  my  cheek,  and  the  cold  damp  clung  to  my  hair,  as  though 
my  face  grew  in  the  earth,  and  must  bear  with  the  footsteps  of 
the  wind,  and  the  falling  of  the  dew,  as  meekly  as  the  grass  of 
the  field.  Besides,  I  got  puzzled  and  distracted  by  having  to 
endure  heat  and  cold  at  the  same  time,  for  I  was  always  con- 
sidering whether  my  feet  were  not  over-devilled,  and  whether 
my  face  was  not  too  well  iced.  And  so  when  from  time  to  time 
the  watch  quietly  and  gently  kept  up  the  languishing  fire,  he 
seldom,  I  think,  was  unseen  to  my  restless  eyes.  Yet,  at  last, 
when  they  called  me,  and  said  that  the  morn  would  soon  be 
dawning,  I  rose  from  a  state  of  half-oblivion,  not  much  unlike 
to  sleep,  though  sharply  qualified  by  a  sort  of  vegetable's  con- 
sciousness of  having  been  growing  still  colder  and  colder,  for 
many,  and  many  an  hour. 


104  EOTHEN.  [CHAP.  xin. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

The  Dead  Sea. 

THE  grey  light  of  the  morning  showed  us  for  the  first  time,  the 
ground  which  we  had  chosen  for  our  resting-place.  We  found 
that  we  had  bivouacked  upon  a  little  patch  of  barley,  plainly 
belonging  to  the  men  of  the  caves.  The  dead  bushes  which  we 
found  so  happily  placed  in  readiness  for  our  fire,  had  been 
strewn  as  a  fence  for  the  protection  of  the  little  crop.  This 
was  the  only  cultivated  spot  of  ground  which  we  had  seen  for 
many  a  league,  and  I  was  rather  sorry  to  find  that  our  night 
fire  and  our  cattle  had  spread  so  much  ruin  upon  this  poor  soli- 
tary  slip  of  corn  land. 

The  saddling  and  loading  of  our  beasts,  was  a  work  which 
generally  took  nearly  an  hour,  and  before  this  was  half  over, 
daylight  came.  We  could  now  see  the  men  of  the  caves. 
They  collected  in  a  body,  amounting,  I  should  think,  to  nearly 
fifty,  and  rushed  down  towards  our  quarters  with  fierce  shouts 
and  yells.  But  the  nearer  they  came,  the  slower  they  went ; 
their  shouts  grew  less  resolute  in  tone,  and  soon  ceased  alto- 
gether. The  fellows  advanced  to  a  thicket  within  thirty  yards 
of  us,  and  behind  this  "  took  up  their  position."  My  men  with- 
out premeditation  did  exactly  that  which  was  best ;  they  kept 
steadily  to  their  work  of  loading  the  beasts  without  fuss,  or 
hurry,  and  whether  it  was  that  they  instinctively  felt  the  wisdom 
of  keeping  quiet,  or  that  they  merely  obeyed  the  natural  incli- 
nation to  silence,  which  one  feels  in  the  early  morning — I  can- 
not tell,  but  I  know  that  except  when  they  exchanged  a  syllable 
or  two  relative  to  the  work  they  were  about,  not  a  word  was 
said.  I  now  believe,  that  this  quietness  of  our  party  created 
an  undefined  terror  in  the  minds  of  the  cave-holders,  and  scared 
them  from  coming  on;  it  gave  them  a  notion  that  we  were  re- 


CHAP,  xrn.]  THE  DEAD  SEA.  105 

lying  on  some  resources  which  they  knew  not  of.  Several 
times  the  fellows  tried  to  lash  themselves  into  a  state  of  excite- 
ment  which  might  do  instead  of  pluck.  They  would  raise  a 
great  shout,  and  sway  forward  in  a  dense  body  from  behind  the 
thicket ;  but  when  they  saw  that  their  bravery,  thus  gathered 
to  a  head,  did  not  even  suspend  the  strapping  of  a  portmanteau, 
or  the  tying  of  a  hat-box,  their  shout  lost  its  spirit,  and  the  whole 
mass  was  irresistibly  drawn  back  like  a  wave  receding  from 
the  shore. 

These  attempts  at  an  onset  were  repeated  several  times,  but 
always  with  the  same  result ;  I  remained  under  the  apprehen- 
sion of  an  attack  for  more  than  half  an  hour,  and  it  seemed  to 
me  that  the  work  of  packing  and  loading  had  never  been  done 
so  slowly.  I  felt  inclined  to  tell  my  fellows  to  make  their  best 
speed,  but  just  as  I  was  going  to  speak,  I  observed  that  every 
one  was  doing  his  duty  already  ;  I  therefore  held  my  peace,  and 
said  not  a  word,  till  at  last  Mysseri  led  up  my  horse,  and  asked 
me  if  I  were  ready  to  mount. 

We  all  marched  off  without  hindrance. 

After  some  time,  we  came  across  a  party  of  Ibrahim's  cavalry, 
which  had  bivouacked  at  no  great  distance  from  us.  The 
knowledge  that  such  a  force  was  in  the  neighborhood  may  have 
conduced  to  the  forbearance  of  the  cave-holders. 

We  saw  a  scraggy-looking  fellow  nearly  black,  and  wearing 
nothing  but  a  cloth  round  the  loins;  he  was  tending  flocks. 
Afterwards  I  came  up  with  another  of  these  goat-herds,  whose 
helpmate  was  with  him.  They  gave  us  some  goat's  milk,  a  wel- 
come present.  I  pitied  the  poor  devil  of  a  goat-herd  for  having  such 
a  very  plain  wife.  I  spend  an  enormous  quantity  of  pity  upon 
that  particular  form  of  human  misery. 

About  mid-day  I  began  to  examine  my  map,  and  to  question 
my  guide,  who  at  last  fell  on  his  knees,  and  confessed  that  he 
knew  nothing  of  the  country  in  which  we  were.  I  was  thus  thrown 
upon  my  own  resources,  and  calculating  that  on  the  preceding 
day,  we  had  nearly  performed  a  two  days'  journey,  I  concluded 
that  the  Dead  Sea  must  be  near.  In  this  I  was  right,  for  at 
about  3  or  4  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  I  caught  a  first  sight  of  its 
dismal  face. 


10G  EOTHEN.  [CHAP.  xin. 

I  went  on,  and  came  near  to  those  waters  of  Death  ;  they 
stretched  deeply  into  the  southern  desert,  and  before  me,  and  all 
around,  as  far  away  as  the  eye  could  follow,  blank  hills  piled 
high  over  hills,  pale,  yellow,  and  naked,  walled  up  in  her  tomb 
for  ever,  the  dead,  and  damned  Gomorrah.  There  was  no  fly 
that  hummed  in  the  forbidden  air,  but  instead  a  deep  stillness — 
no  grass  grew  from  the  earth — no  weed  peered  through  the  void 
sand,  but  in  mockery  of  all  life,  there  were  trees  borne  down  by 
Jordan  in  some  ancient  flood,  and  these  grotesquely  planted  upon 
the  forlorn  shore,  spread  out  their  grim  skeleton  arms  all  scorch- 
ed, and  charred  to  blackness,  by  the  heats  of  the  long,  silent 
years. 

I  now  struck  off  towards  the  debouchure  of  the  river ;  but  I 
found  that  the  country,  though  seemingly  quite  flat,  was  inter- 
sected  by  deep  ravines,  which  did  not  show  themselves  until 
nearly  approached.  For  some  time  my  progress  was  much 
obstructed ;  but  at  last  I  came  across  a  track  which  led  towards 
the  river,  and  which  might,  as  I  hoped,  bring  me  to  a  ford.  I 
found,  in  fact,  when  I  came  to  the  river's  side,  that  the  track 
reappeared  upon  the  opposite  banks,  plainly  showing  that  the 
stream  had  been  fordable  at  this  place.  Now,  however,  in  con- 
sequence of  the  late  rains,  the  river  was  quite  impracticable  for 
baggage  horses.  A  body  of  waters,  about  equal  to  the  Thames 
at  Eton,  but  confined  to  a  narrower  channel,  poured  down  in  a 
current  so  swift  and  heavy,  that  the  idea  of  passing  with  laden 
baggage  horses  was  utterly  forbidden.  I  could  have  swum 
across  myself,  and  I  might,  perhaps,  have  succeeded  in  swim- 
ming a  horse  over.  But  this  would  have  been  useless,  because 
in  such  case  I  must  have  abandoned,  not  only  my  baggage,  but 
all  my  attendants,  for  none  of  them  were  able  to  swim,  and  with- 
out that  resource,  it  would  have  been  madness  for  them  to  rely 
upon  the  swimming  of  their  beasts  across  such  a  powerful 
stream.  I  still  hoped,  however,  that  there  might  be  a  chance  of 
passing  the  river  at  the  point  of  its  actual  junction  with  the  Dead 
Sea,  and  I  therefore  went  on  in  that  direction. 

Night  came  upon  us  whilst  laboring  across  gullies,  and  sandy 
mounds,  and  we  were  obliged  to  come  to  a  stand-still  quite  sud- 
denly, upon  the  very  edge  of  a  precipitous  descent.  Every  step 


CHAP,  xin.]  THE  DEAD  SEA.  107 

towards  the  Dead  Sea  had  brought  us  into  a  country  more,  and 
more  dreary  ;  and  this  sand-hill,  which  we  were  forced  to  choose 
for  our  resting-place,  was  dismal  enough.  A  few  slender  blades 
of  grass,  which  here  and  there  singly  pierced  the  sand,  mocked 
bitterly  the  hunger  of  our  jaded  beasts,  and  with  our  small 
remaining  fragment  of  goat's  milk  rock,  by  way  of  supper,  we 
were  not  much  better  off  than  our  horses ;  we  wanted,  too,  the 
great  requisite  of  a  cheery  bivouac — fire.  Moreover,  the  spot  on 
which  we  had  been  so  suddenly  brought  to  a  stand-still  was  rela- 
tively high,  and  unsheltered,  and  the  night  wind  blew  swiftly, 
and  cold. 

The  next  morning  I  reached  the  debouchure  of  the  Jordan, 
where  I  had  hoped  to  find  a  bar  of  sand  that  might  render  its 
passage  possible.  The  river,  however,  rolled  its  eddying  waters 
fast  down  to  the  "  sea,"  in  a  strong,  deep  stream  that  shut  out  all 
hope  of  crossing.  It  was  always  said  that  no  vegetation  could 
live  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  Dead  Sea,  but  now  I  began  to 
look  upon  my  party  and  myself  as  forming  a  very  fine  "  planta- 
tion ;"  for  never  in  the  hunting  sense  of  the  term  were  men  more 
thoroughly  "  planted." 

It  now  seemed  necessary  either  to  construct  a  raft  of  some 
kind,  or  else  to  retrace  my  steps,  and  remount  the  banks  of  the 
Jordan.  1  had  once  happened  to  give  some  attention  to  the  sub- 
ject  of  military  bridges — a  branch  of  military  science  which 
includes  the  construction  of  rafts,  and  contrivances  of  the  like 
sort,  and  I  should  have  been  very  proud  indeed,  if  I  could  have 
carried  my  party  and  my  baggage  across  by  dint  of  any  idea 
gathered  from  Sir  Howard  Douglas,  or  Robinson  Crusoe.  But 
we  were  all  faint,  and  languid  from  want  of  food,  and  besides 
there  were  no  materials.  Higher  up  the  river  there  were  bushes, 
and  river  plants,  but  nothing  like  timber,  and  the  cord  with 
which  my  baggage  was  tied  to  the  pack-saddles  amounted 
altogether  to  a  very  small  quantity — not  nearly  enough  to  h  aul 
any  sort  of  craft  across  the  stream. 

And  now  it  was,  if  I  remember  rightly,  that  Dthemetri  sub- 
mitted  to  me  a  plan  for  putting  to  death  the  Nazarene,  whose 
misguidance  had  been  the  cause  of  our  difficulties.  There  was 
something  fascinating  in  this  suggestion,  for  the  slaying  of  the 


108  EOTHEN.  [CHAP.  xin. 

guide  was  of  course  easy  enough,  and  would  look  like  an  act  of 
what  politicians  call  "  vigor."  If  it  were  only  to  become  known 
to  my  friends  in  England  that  I  had  calmly  killed  a  fellow  crea- 
ture for  taking  me  out  of  my  way,  I  might  remain  perfectly  quiet 
and  tranquil  for  all  the  rest  of  my  days,  quite  free  from  the 
danger  of  being  considered  "  slow  ;"  I  might  ever  after  live  on 
upon  my  reputation  like  "single-speech  Hamilton"  in  the  last 

century,  or  "single-sin "  in  this,  without  being  obliged  to 

take  the  trouble  of  doing  any  more  harm  in  the  world.  This 
was  a  great  temptation  to  an  indolent  person,  but  the  motive  was 
not  strengthened  by  any  sincere  feeling  of  anger  with  the  .Na- 
zarene :  whilst  the  question  of  his  life  and  death  was  debated, 
he  was  riding  in  front  of  our  party,  and  there  was  something  in  the 
anxious  writhing  of  his  supple  limbs  that  seemed  to  express  a 
sense  of  his  false  position,  and  struck  me  as  highly  comic  ;  I 
had  no  crotchet  at  that  time  against  the  punishment  of  the 
death,  but  I  was  unused  to  blood,  and  the  proposed  victim  looked 
so  thoroughly  capable  of  enjoying  life  (if  he  could  only  get  to 
the  other  side  of  the  rive),  that  I  thought  it  would  be  hard  for 
him  to  die,  merely  in  order  to  give  me  a  character  for  energy. 
Acting  on  the  result  of  these  considerations,  and  reserving  to 
myself  a  free  and  unfettered  discretion  to  have  the  poor  villain 
shot  at  any  future  moment,  I  magnanimously  decided  that  for 
the  present  he  should  live,  and  not  die. 

I  bathed  in  the  Dead  Sea.  The  ground  covered  by  the  water, 
sloped  so  gradually,  that  I  was  not  only  forced  to  "  sneak  in," 
but  to  walk  through  the  water  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  mile  before 
I  could  get  out  of  my  depth.  When  at  last  I  was  able  to  attempt 
a  dive,  the  salts  held  in  solution  made  my  eyes  smart  so  sharply 
that  the  pain  which  I  thus  suffered  acceding  to  the  weakness 
occasioned  by  want  of  food,  made  me  giddy  and  faint  for  some 
moments,  but  I  soon  grew  better.  I  knew  beforehand  the  im- 
possibility of  sinking  in  this  buoyant  water,  but  I  was  surprised 
to  find  that  I  could  not  swim  at  my  accustomed  pace  ;  my  legs 
and  feet  were  lifted  so  high  and  dry  out  of  the  lake,  that  my 
stroke  was  baffled,  and  I  found  myself  kicking  against  the  thin 
air,  instead  of  the  dense  fluid  upon  which  I  was  swimming.  The 
water  is  perfectly  bright  and  clear ;  its  taste  detestable.  After 


CHAP,  xni.]  THE  DEAD  SEA.  109 

finishing  my  attempts  at  swimming  and  diving,  I  took  some  time 
in  regaining  the  shore,  and  before  I  began  to  dress,  I  found  that 
the  sun  had  already  evaporated  the  water  which  clung  to  me, 
and  that  my  skin  was  thickly  encrusted  with  sulphate  of  mag- 
nesia. 


110  EOTHEN.  [CHAP.  xiv. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

The  Black  Tents. 

MY  steps  were  reluctantly  turned  towards  the  north.  I  had 
ridden  some  way  and  still  it  seemed  that,  all  life  was  fenced,  and 
barred  out  from  the  desolate  ground  over  which  I  was  jour- 
neying. On  the  west  there  flowed  the  impassable  Jordan ; 
on  the  east  stood  an  endless  range  of  barren  mountains,  and  on 
the  south  lay  that  desert  sea  that  knew  not  the  plashing  of  an 
oar  j  greatly  therefore  was  I  surprised,  when  suddenly  there 
broke  upon  my  ear,  the  long,  ludicrous,  persevering  bray  of  a 
living  donkey.  I  was  riding  at  this  time  some  few  hundred 
yards  a-head  of  all  my  party,  except  the  Nazarene  (who  by  a 
wise  instinct  kept  closer  to  me  than  to  Dthemetri),  and  I  instantly 
went  forward  in  the  direction  of  the  sound,  for  I  fancied  that 
where  there  were  donkeys,  there  too  most  surely  would  be  men. 
The  ground  on  all  sides  of  me  seemed  thoroughly  void  and  life- 
less, but  at  last  I  got  down  into  a  hollow,  and  presently  a  sudden 
turn  brought  me  within  thirty  yards  of  an  Arab  encampment. 
The  low  black  tents  which  I  had  so  long  lusted  to  see  were  right 
before  me,  and  they  were  all  teeming  with  live  Arabs — men, 
women,  and  children. 

I  wished  to  have  let  my  party  behind  know  where  I  was,  but 
I  recollected  that  they  would  be  able  to  trace  me  by  the  prints 
of  my  horse's  hoofs  in  the  sand,  and  having  to  do  with  Asiatics, 
I  felt  the  danger  of  the  slightest  movement  which  might  be 
looked  upon  as  a  sign  of  irresolution.  Therefore,  without  look- 
ing behind  me — without  looking  to  the  right  or  to  the  left,  I  rode 
straight  up  towards  the  foremost  tent.  Before  this  was  strewn  a 
semicircular  fence  of  dead  boughs,  through  which  there  was  an 
opening  opposite  to  the  front  of  the  tent.  As  I  advanced,  some 
twenty  or  thirty  of  the  most  uncouth  looking  fellows  imaginable 


CHAP,  xiv.]  THE  BLACK  TENTS.  Ill 

came  forward  to  meet  me.  In  their  appearance  they  showed 
nothing  of  the  Bedouin  blood  ;  they  were  of  many  colors,  from 
dingy  brown  to  jet  black,  and  some  of  these  last  had  much  of 
the  negro  look  about  them.  They  were  tall,  powerful  fellows, 
but  awfully  ugly.  They  wore  nothing  but  the  Arab  shirts, 
confined  at  the  waist  by  leathern  belts. 

I  advanced  to  the  gap  left  in  the  fence,  and  at  once  alighted 
from  my  horse.  The  chief  greeted  me  after  his  fashion  by  alter, 
nately  touching  first  my  hand  and  then  his  own  forehead,  as  if 
he  were  conveying  the  virtue  of  the  touch  like  a  spark  of  elec- 
tricity. Presently  I  found  myself  seated  upon  a  sheep-skin, 
which  was  spread  for  me  under  the  sacred  shade  of  Arabian 
canvass.  The  tent  was  of  a  long,  narrow,  oblong  form,  and 
contained  a  quantity  of  men,  women  and  children,  so  closely 
huddled  together,  that  there  was  scarcely  one  of  them  who  was 
not  in  actual  contact  with  his  neighbor.  The  moment  I  had 
taken  my  seat,  the  chief  repeated  his  salutations  in  the  most  en- 
thusiastic manner,  and  then  the  people  having  gathered  densely 
about  me,  got  hold  of  my  unresisting  hand,  and  passed  it  round 
like  a  claret  jug  for  the  benefit  of  everybody.  The  women  soon 
brought  me  a  wooden  bowl  full  of  buttermilk,  and  welcome  in- 
deed came  the  gift  to  my  hungry  and  thirsty  soul. 

After  some  time  my  party,  as  I  had  expected,  came  up,  and 
when  poor  Dthemetri  saw  me  on  my  sheep-skin,  "  the  life  and 
soul"  of  this  ragamuffin  party,  he  was  so  astounded  that  he  even 
failed  to  check  his  cry  of  horror ;  he  plainly  thought  that  now, 
at  last,  the  Lord  had  delivered  me  (interpreter  and  all)  into  the 
hands  of  the  lowest  Philistines. 

Mysseri  carried  a  tobacco  pouch  slung  at  his  belt,  and  as  soon 
as  its  contents  were  known,  the  whole  population  of  the  tent  be- 
gan begging  like  spaniels  for  bits  of  the  beloved  weed.  I  con- 
cluded,, from  the  abject  manner  of  those  people,  that  they  could 
not  possibly  be  thorough-bred  Bedouins,  and  I  saw  too,  that  they 
must  be  in  the  very  last  stage  of  misery,  for  poor  indeed  is  the 
man  in  these  climes,  who  cannot  command  a  pipeful  of  tobacco. 
I  began  to  think  that  I  had  fallen  amongst  thorough  savages, 
and  it  seemed  likely  enough  that  they  would  gain  their  very  first 
knowledge  of  civilisation  by  ravishing  and  studying  the  con- 


112  EOTHEN.  [CHAP.  xiv. 

tents  of  my  dearest  portmanteaus,  but  still  my  impression  was 
that  they  would  hardly  venture  upon  such  an  attempt ;  I  observ- 
ed, indeed,  that  they  did  not  offer  me  the  bread  and  salt,  which 
I  had  understood  to  be  the  pledges  of  peace  amongst  wandering 
tribes,  but  I  fancied  that  they  refrained  from  this  act  of  hospi- 
tality, not  in  consequence  of  any  hostile  determination,  but  in 
order  that  the  notion  of  robbing  me  might  remain  for  the  present 
an  "  open  question."  I  afterwards  found  that  the  poor  fellows 
had  no  bread  to  offer.  They  were  literally  "  out  at  grass  ;"  it  is 
true  that  they  had  a  scanty  supply  of  milk  from  goats,  but  they 
were  living  almost  entirely  upon  certain  grass  stems,  which 
were  just  in  season  at  that  time  of  the  year.  These,  if  not 
highly  nourishing,  are  pleasant  enough  to  the  taste,  and  their 
acid  juices  came  gratefully  to  thirsty  lips. 


CHAP,  xv.]  PASSAGE  OF  THE  JORDAN.  113 


CHAPTER  XV, 

Passage  of  the  Jordan. 

AND  now  Dthemetri  began  to  enter  into  a  negotiation  with  my 
hosts  for  a  passage  over  the  river.  I  never  interfered  with  my 
worthy  Dragoman  upon  these  occasions,  because  from  my  entire 
ignorance  of  the  Arabic,  I  should  have  been  quite  unable  to 
exercise  any  real  control  over  his  words,  and  it  would  have 
been  silly  to  break  the  stream  of  his  eloquence  to  no  purpose. 
I  have  reason  to  fear,  however,  that  he  lied  transcendantly,  and 
especially  in  representing  me  as  the  bosom  friend  of  Ibrahim 
Pasha.  The  mention  of  that  name  produced  immense  agitation 
and  excitement,  and  the  Sheik  explained  to  Dthemetri  the 
grounds  of  the  infinite  respect  which  he  and  his  tribe  entertained 
for  the  Pasha.  A  few  weeks  before  Ibrahim  had  craftily  sent 
a  body  of  troops  across  the  Jordan.  The  force  went  warily 
round  to  the  foot  of  the  mountains  on  the  East,  so  as  to  cut  off 
the  retreat  of  this  tribe,  and  then  surrounded  them  as  they  lay 
encamped  in  the  vale ;  their  camels,  and  indeed  all  their 
possessions  worth  taking,  were  carried  off  by  the  soldiery,  and 
moreover  the  then  Sheik,  together  with  every  tenth  man  of  the 
tribe,  was  brought  out  and  shot.  You  would  think  that  this 
conduct  on  the  part  of  the  Pasha  might  not  procure  for  his 
"  friend"  a  very  gracious  reception  amongst  the  people  whom 
he  had  thus  despoiled  and  decimated,  but  the  Asiatic  seems  to 
be  animated  with  a  feeling  of  profound  respect,  almost  border- 
ing upon  affection,  for  all  who  have  done  him  any  bold  and 
violent  wrong,  and  there  is  always  too,  so  much  of  vague  and 
undefined  apprehension  mixed  up  with  his  really  well-founded 
alarms,  that  I  can  see  no  limit  to  the  yielding  and  bending  of 
his  mind  when  it  is  worked  upon  by  the  idea  of  power. 

After  some  discussion  the  Arabs  agreed,  as  I  thought,  to  con- 
9 


114  EOTHEN.  [CHAP.  xv. 

duct  me  to  a  ford,  and  we  moved  on  towards  the  river,  followed 
by  seventeen  of  the  most  able-bodied  of  the  tribe,  under  the 
guidance  of  several  grey-bearded  elders,  and  Sheik  Ali  Djoub- 
ran  at  the  head  of  the  whole  detachment.  Upon  leaving  the 
encampment  a  sort  of  ceremony  was  performed,  for  the  purpose, 
it  seemed,  of  ensuring,  if  possible,  a  happy  result  for  the  under- 
taking. There  was  an  uplifting  of  arms,  and  a  repeating  of 
words,  that  sounded  like  formulae,  but  there  were  no  prostra- 
tions, and  I  did  not  understand  that  the  ceremony  was  of  a  re- 
ligious character.  The  tented  Arabs  are  looked  upon  as  very 
bad  Mahometans. 

We  arrived  upon  the  banks  of  the  river — not  at  a  ford,  but  at 
a  deep  and  rapid  part  of  the  stream,  and  I  now  understood  that 
it  was  the  plan  of  these  men,  if  they  helped  me  at  all,  to  trans- 
port me  across  the  river  by  some  species  of  raft.  But  a  reac- 
tion had  taken  place  in  the  opinions  of  many,  and  a  violent  dis- 
pute arose,  upon  a  motion  which  seemed  to  have  been  made  by 
some  honorable  member,  with  a  view  to  robbery.  The  fellows 
all  gathered  together  in  circle,  at  a  little  distance  from  my  party, 
and  there  disputed  with  great  vehemence  and  fury,  for  nearly 
two  hours.  I  can't  give  a  correct  report  of  the  debate,  for  it 
was  held  in  a  barbarous  dialect  of  the  Arabic,  unknown  to  my 
Dragoman.  I  recollect,  I  sincerely  felt  at  the  time  that  the 
arguments  in  favor  of  robbing  me  must  have  been  almost  un- 
answerable, and  I  gave  great  credit  to  the  speakers  on  my  side 
for  the  ingenuity  and  sophistry  which  they  must  have  shown  in 
maintaining  the  fight  so  well. 

During  the  discussion,  I  remained  lying  in  front  of  my  bag- 
gage, which  had  all  been  taken  from  the  pack-saddles,  and 
placed  upon  the  ground.  I  was  so  languid  from  want  of  food, 
that  I  had  scarcely  animation  enough  to  feel  as  deeply  inter- 
ested as  you  would  suppose,  in  the  result  of  the  discussion.  I 
thought,  however,  that  the  pleasantest  toys  to  play  with,  during 
this  interval,  were  my  pistols,  and  now  and  then,  when  I  list- 
lessly visited  my  loaded  barrels  with  the  swivel  ramrods,  or 
drew  a  sweet,  musical  click  from  my  English  firelocks,  it 
seemed  to  me  that  I  exercised  a  slight  and  gentle  influence  on 
the  debate.  Thanks  to  Ibrahim  Pasha's  terrible  visitation,  the 


CHAP,  xv.]  PASSAGE  OF  THE  JORDAN.  115 

men  of  the  tribe  were  wholly  unarmed,  and  my  advantage  in 
this  respect  might  have  counter-balanced  in  some  measure  the 
superiority  of  numbers. 

Mysseri  (not  interpreting  in  Arabic)  had  no  duty  to  perform, 
and  he  seemed  to  be  faint  and  listless  as  myself.  Shereef 
looked  perfectly  resigned  to  any  fate.  But  Dthemetri  (faithful 
terrier  !)  was  bristling  with  zeal  and  watchfulness ;  he  could 
not  understand  the  debate,  which  indeed  was  carried  on  at  a 
distance  too  great  to  be  easily  heard,  even  if  the  language  had 
been  familiar  ;  but  he  was  always  on  the  alert,  and  now  and 
then  conferring  with  men  who  had  straggled  out  of  the  assembly ; 
at  last  he  found  an  opportunity  of  making  a  proposal,  which  at 
once  produced  immense  sensation  ;  he  offered,  on  my  behalf, 
that  if  the  tribe  should  bear  themselves  loyally  towards  me,  and 
take  my  party  and  my  baggage  in  safety  to  the  other  bank  of 
the  river,  I  should  give  them  a  "  teskeri,"  or  written  certificate 
of  their  good  conduct,  which  might  avail  them  hereafter  in  the 
hour  of  their  direst  need.  This  proposal  was  received,  and  in- 
stantly accepted  by  all  the  men  of  the  tribe  there  present,  with 
the  utmost  enthusiasm.  I  was  to  give  the  men,  too,  a  "  bak- 
sheish,"  that  is,  a  present  of  money,  which  is  usually  made 
upon  the  conclusion  of  any  sort  of  treaty ;  but,  although  the 
people  of  the  tribe  were  so  miserably  poor,  they  seemed  to  look 
upon  the  pecuniary  part  of  the  arrangement  as  a  matter  quite 
trivial  in  comparison  with  the  "  teskeri."  Indeed  the  sum 
which  Dthemetri  promised  them  was  extremely  small,  and  not 
the  slightest  attempt  was  made  to  extort  any  further  reward. 

The  Council  now  broke  up,  and  most  of  the  men  rushed  madly 
towards  me,  and  overwhelmed  me  with  vehement  gratulations ; 
they  caressed  my  boots  with  much  affection,  and  my  hands 
were  severely  kissed. 

The  Arabs  now  went  to  work  in  right  earnest  to  effect  the 
passage  of  the  river.  They  had  brought  with  them  a  great 
number  of  the  skins  which  they  use  for  carrying  water  in  the 
desert ;  these  they  filled  with  air,  and  fastened  several  of  them 
to  small  boughs  which  they  cut  from  the  banks  of  the  river.  In 
this  way  they  constructed  a  raft  not  more  than  about  four  feet 
square,  but  rendered  buoyant  by  the  inflated  skins  which  sup- 


116  EOTHEN.  [CHAP.  xv. 

ported  it.  On  this  a  portion  of  my  baggage  was  placed,  and 
was  firmly  tied  to  it  by  the  cords  used  on  my  pack-saddles. 
The  little  raft,  with  its  weighty  cargo,  was  then  gently  lifted 
into  the  water,  and  I  had  the  satisfaction  to  see  that  it  floated  well. 

Twelve  of  the  Arabs  now  stripped,  and  tied  inflated  skins  to 
their  loins  ;  six  of  the  men  went  down  into  the  river,  got  in 
front  of  the  little  raft,  and  pulled  it  off  a  few  feet  from  the  bank. 
The  other  six  then  dashed  into  the  stream  with  loud  shouts, 
and  swam  along  after  the  raft,  pushing  it  from  behind.  Off 
went  the  craft  in  capital  style  at  first,  for  the  stream  was  easy 
on  the  eastern  side,  but  I  saw  that  the  tug  was  to  come,  for  the 
main  torrent  swept  round  in  a  bend  near  the  western  banks  of 
the  river. 

The  old  men  with  their  long  grey  grisly  beards  stood  shout- 
ing and  cheering,  praying  and  commanding.  At  length  the 
raft  entered  upon  the  difficult  part  of  its  course ;  the  whirling 
stream  seized  and  twisted  it  about,  and  then  bore  it  rapidly 
downwards ;  the  swimming  men  flagged,  and  seemed  to  be  beat 
in  the  struggle.  But  now  the  old  men  on  the  bank,  with  their 
rigid  arms  uplifted  straight,  sent  forth  a  cry  and  a  shout  that 
tore  the  wide  air  into  tatters,  and  then  to  make  their  urging  yet 
more  strong,  they  shrieked  out  the  dreadful  syllables,  "  'brahim 
Pasha !"  The  swimmers,  one  moment  before  so  blown,  and  so 
weary,  found  lungs  to  answer  the  cry,  and  shouting  back  the 
name  of  their  great  destroyer,  they  dashed  on  through  the  tor- 
rent and  bore  the  raft  in  safety  to  the  western  bank. 

Afterwards  the  swimmers  returned  with  the  raft,  and  attached 
to  it  the  rest  of  my  baggage.  I  took  my  seat  upon  the  top  of  the 
cargo,  and  the  raft  thus  laden,  passed  the  river  in  the  same  way 
and  with  the  same  struggle  as  before.  The  skins,  however,  not 
being  perfectly  air-tight,  had  lost  a  great  part  of  their  buoyan- 
cy, so  that  I,  as  well  as  the  luggage  that  passed  on  this  last  voy- 
age, got  wet  in  the  waters  of  Jordan.  The  raft  could  not  be 
trusted  for  another  trip,  and  the  rest  of  my  party  passed  the  river 
in  a  different,  and  (for  them)  much  safer  way.  Inflated  skins 
were  fastened  to  their  loins,  and  thus  supported,  they  were  tug- 
ged across  by  Arabs  swimming  on  either  side  of  them.  The 
horses  and  mules  were  thrown  into  the  water,  and  forced  to 
swim  over  j  the  poor  beasts  had  a  hard  struggle  for  their  lives 


CHAP,  xv.]  PASSAGE  OF  THE  JORDAN.  117 

in  that  swift  stream,  and  I  thought  that  one  of  the  horses  would 
have  been  drowned,  for  he  was  too  weak  to  gain  a  footing  on 
the  western  bank,  and  the  stream  bore  him  down.  At  last, 
however,  he  swam  back  to  the  side  from  which  he  had  come. 
Before  dark  all  had  passed  the  river  except  this  one  horse  and 
old  Shereef.  He,  poor  fellow,  was  shivering  on  the  eastern 
bank,  for  his  dread  of  the  passage  was  so  great  that  he  delayed 
it  as  long  as  he  could,  and  at  last  it  became  so  dark  that  he  was 
obliged  to  wait  till  the  morning. 

I  lay  that  night  on  the  banks  of  the  river,  and  at  a  little  dis- 
tance from  me  the  Arabs  made  a  fire,  round  which  they  sat  in  a 
circle.  They  were  made  most  savagely  happy  by  the  tobacco 
with  which  I  supplied  them,  and  they  had  determined  to'  make 
the  whole  night  one  smoking  festival.  The  poor  fellows  had  only 
one  broken  bowl,  without  any  tube  at  all,  but  this  morsel  of  a 
pipe  they  passed  round  from  one  to  the  other,  allowing  to  each 
a  fixed  number  of  whiffs.  In  that  way  they  passed  the  whole 
night. 

The  next  morning  old  Shereef  was  brought  across.  It  was  a 
strange  sight  to  see  this  solemn  old  Mussulman  with  his  shaven 
head,  and  his  sacred  beard,  sprawling  and  puffing  upon  the  sur- 
face of  the  water.  When  at  last  he  reached  the  bank,  the  peo- 
ple told  him  that  by  his  baptism  in  Jordan  he  had  surely  become 
a  mere  Christian.  Poor  Shereef! — the  holy  man  ! — the  descen- 
dant of  the  Prophet ! — he  was  sadly  hurt  by  the  taunt,  and  the 
more  so  as  he  seemed  to  feel  there  was  some  foundation  for  it. 
and  that  he  really  may  have  absorbed  some  Christian  errors. 

When  all  was  ready  for  departure,  I  wrote  the  "  Teskeri '' 
in  French,  and  delivered  it  to  Sheik  AH  Djoubran,  together 
with  the  promised  "baksheish;"  he  was  exceedingly  grateful, 
and  I  parted  upon  very  good  terms  from  this  ragged  tribe. 

In  two  or  three  hours  I  gained  Rihah,  a  village  which  is  said 
to  occupy  the  site  of  ancient  Jericho.  There  was  one  building 
there  which  I  observed  with  some  emotion,  for  although  it  may 
not  have  been  actually  standing  in  the  days  of  Jericho,  it  con- 
tained at  this  day  a  most  interesting  collection  of — modern 
loaves. 

Some  hours  after  sun-set  I  reached  the  Convent  of  Santa 
Saba,  and  there  remained  for  the  night. 


118  EOTHEN.  [CHAP.  xvi. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

Terra  Santa. 

THE  enthusiasm  that  had  glowed,  or  seemed  to  glow,  within  me 
for  one  blessed  moment  when  I  knelt  by  the  shrine  of  the 
Blessed  Virgin  at  Nazareth,  was  riot  rekindled  at  Jerusalem. 
In  the  stead  of  the  solemn  gloom,  and  the  deep  stillness  that  of 
right  belonged  to  the  Holy  City,  there  was  the  hum  and  the 
bustle  of  active  life.  It  was  the  "  height  of  the  season."  The 
Easter  ceremonies  drew  near;  the  Pilgrims  were  flocking  in 
from  all  quarters,  and  although  their  objects  were  partly  at 
least  of  a  religious  character,  yet  their  "  arrivals  "  brought  as 
much  stir  and  liveliness  to  the  city,  as  if  they  had  come  up  to 
marry  their  daughters. 

The  votaries  who  every  year  crowd  to  the  Holy  Sepulchre 
are  chiefly  of  the  Greek  and  Armenian  Churches.  They  are 
not  drawn  into  Palestine  by  a  mere  longing  to  stand  upon  the 
ground  trodden  by  our  Saviour,  but  rather  they  perform  the 
pilgrimage  as  a  plain  duty,  which  is  strongly  inculcated  by  their 
religion.  A  very  great  proportion  of  those  who  belong  to  the 
Greek  Church,  contrive  at  some  time  or  other  in  the  course  of 
their  lives,  to  achieve  the  enterprise.  Many,  in  their  infancy 
and  childhood,  are  brought  to  the  holy  sites  by  their  parents, 
but  those  who  have  not  had  this  advantage  will  often  make  it 
the  main  object  of  their  lives  to  save  money  enough  for  this  holy 
undertaking. 

The  Pilgrims  begin  to  arrive  in  Palestine  some  weeks  before 
the  Easter  festival  of  the  Greek  Church  ;  they  come  from 
Egypt — from  all  parts  of  Syria — from  Armenia  and  Asia 
Minor — from  Stamboul,  from  Roumelia,  from  the  provinces  of 
the  Danube,  and  from  all  the  Russias.  Most  of  these  people 
bring  with  them  some  articles  of  merchandize,  but  I  myself  be- 


CHAP,  xvi.]  TERRA  SANTA.  119 

lieve  (notwithstanding  the  common  taunt  against  pilgrims),  that 
they  do  this  rather  as  a  mode  of  paying  the  expenses  of  their 
journey,  than  from  a  spirit  of  mercenary  speculation  ;  they 
generally  travel  in  families,  for  the  women  are  of  course  more 
ardent  than  their  husbands  in  undertaking  these  pious  enter- 
prises, and  they  take  care  to  bring  with  them  all  their  children, 
however  young,  for  the  efficacy  of  the  rites  does  not  depend 
upon  the  age  of  the  votary,  so  that  people  whose  careful 
mothers  have  obtained  for  them  the  benefit  of  the  pilgrimage  in 
early  life,  are  saved  from  the  expense  and  trouble  of  under- 
taking the  journey  at  a  later  age.  The  superior  veneration  so 
often  excited  by  objects  that  are  distant  and  unknown,  shows 
not  perhaps  the  wrongheadedness  of  a  man,  but  rather  the 
transcendant  power  of  his  Imagination  ;  however  this  may 
be,  and  whether  it  is  by  mere  obstinacy  that  they  poke  their 
way  through  intervening  distance,  or  whether  they  come 
by  the  winged  strength  of  Fancy,  quite  certainly  the  Pilgrims 
who  flock  to  Palestine  from  the  most  remote  homes  are  the  peo- 
ple most  eager  in  the  enterprise,  and  in  number,  too,  they  bear  a 
very  high  proportion  to  the  whole  mass. 

The  great  bulk  of  the  Pilgrims  make  their  way  by  sea  to  the 
port  of  Jaffa.  A  number  of  families  will  charter  a  vessel 
amongst  them,  all  bringing  their  own  provisions,  which  are  of  the 
simplest  and  cheapest  kind.  On  board  every  vessel  thus 
freighted,  there  is,  I  believe,  a  Priest  who  helps  the  people  in 
their  religious  exercises,  and  tries  (and  fails)  to  maintain  some- 
thing like  order  and  harmony.  The  vessels  employed  in  this 
service  are  usually  Greek  brigs  or  brigantinee,  and  schooners, 
and  the  number  of  passengers  stowed  in  them  is  almost  always 
horribly  excessive.  The  voyages  are  sadly  protracted,  not 
only  by  the  land-seeking,  storm-flying  habits  of  the  Greek  sea- 
men, but  also  by  their  endless  schemes  and  speculations,  which 
are  for  ever  tempting  them  to  touch  at  the  nearest  port.  The 
voyage,  too,  must  be  made  in  winter,  in  order  that  Jerusalem 
may  be  reached  some  weeks  before  the  Greek  Easter,  and  thus 
by  the  time  they  attain  to  the  holy  shrines,  the  Pilgrims  have 
really  and  truly  undergone  a  very  respectable  quantity  of  suf- 
fering. I  once  saw  one  of  these  pious  cargoes  put  ashore  on 


120  EOTHEN.  [CHAP.  xvi. 

the  coast  of  Cyprus,  where  they  had  touched  for  the  purpose  of 
visiting  (not  Paphos,  but)  some  Christian  sanctuary.  I  never 
saw  (no,  never  even  in  the  most  horridly  stuffy  ball  room) 
such  a  discomfortable  collection  of  human  beings.  Long  hud- 
dled together  in  a  pitching  and  rolling  prison— jfed  on  beans — 
exposed  to  some  real  danger,  and  to  terrors  without  end,  they 
had  been  tumbled  about  for  many  wintry  weeks  in  the  chopping 
seas  of  the  Mediterranean ;  as  soon  as  they  landed,  they  stood 
upon  the  beach  and  chaunted  a  hymn  of  thanks ;  the  chaunt 
was  morne  and  doleful,  but  really  the  poor  people  were  looking  so 
miserable  that  one  could  not  fairly  expect  from  them  any  lively 
outpouring  of  gratitnde. 

When  the  Pilgrims  have  landed  at  Jaffa  they  hire  camels, 
horses,  mules  or  donkeys,  and  make  their  way  as  well  as  they 
can  to  the  Holy  City.  The  space  fronting  the  Church  of  the 
Holy  Sepulchre  soon  becomes  a  kind  of  Bazaar,  or  rather,  per- 
haps, reminds  you  of  an  English  Fair.  On  this  spot  the  Pil- 
grims display  their  merchandize,  and  there  too  the  trading  resi- 
dents of  the  place  offer  their  goods  for  sale.  I  have  never,  I 
think,  seen  elsewhere  in  Asia,  so  much  commercial  animation 
as  upon  this  square  of  ground  by  the  Church  door  ;  the  "  money 
changers"  seemed  to  be  almost  as  brisk  and  lively  as  if  they 
had  been  within  the  Temple. 

When  I  entered  the  Church  I  found  a  Babel  of  worshippers. 
Greek,  Roman,  and  Armenian  priests  were  performing  their 
different  rites  in  various  nooks  and  corners,  and  crowds  of  dis- 
ciples were  rushing  about  in  all  directions, — some  laughing 
and  talking, — some  begging,  but  most  of  them  going  about  in  a 
regular  and  methodical  way  to  kiss  the  sanctified  spots,  and 
speak  the  appointed  syllables,  and  lay  down  the  accustomed 
coin.  If  this  kissing  of  the  shrines  had  seemed  as  though  it 
were  done  at  the  bidding  of  Enthusiasm,  or  of  any  poor  senti- 
ment, even  feebly  approaching  to  it,  the  sight  would  have  been 
less  odd  to  English  eyes ;  but  as  it  was,  I  stared  to  see  grown 
men  thus  steadily  and  carefully  embracing  the  sticks  and  the 
stones — not  from  love  or  from  zeal  (else  God  forbid  that  I  should 
have  stared),  but  from  a  calm  sense  of  duty ;  they  seemed  to 


CHAP,  xvi.]  TERRA  SANTA. 


be  not  "  working  out,"  but  transacting  the  great  business  of  Sal- 
vation. 

Dthemetri,  however,  who  generally  came  with  me  when  I 
went  out,  in  order  to  do  duty  as  interpreter,  really  had  in  him 
some  enthusiasm  ;  he  was  a  zealous  and  almost  fanatical  mem- 
ber of  the  Greek  Church,  and  had  long  since  performed  the 
pilgrimage,  so  now  great  indeed  was  the  pride  and  delight  with 
which  he.  guided  me  from  one  holy  'spot  to  another.  Every 
now  and  then,  when  he  came  to  an  unoccupied  shrine,  he  fell 
down  on  his  knees  and  performed  devotion  ;  he  was  almost  dis- 
tracted by  the  temptations  that  surrounded  him  ;  there  were  so 
many  stones  absolutely  requiring  to  be  kissed,  that  he  rushed 
about  happily  puzzled  and  sweetly  teased,  like  "  Jack  among 
the  maidens." 

A  Protestant,  familiar  with  the  Holy  Scriptures,  but  ignorant 
of  tradition  and  the  geography  of  Modern  Jerusalem,  finds 
himself  a  good  deal  "  mazed"  when  he  first  looks  for  the  sacred 
sites.  The  Holy  Sepulchre  is  not  in  a  field  without  the  walls, 
but  in  the  midst,  and  in  the  best  part  of  the  town  under  the  roof 
of  the  great  Church  which  I  have  been  talking  about ;  it  is  a 
handsome  tomb  of  oblong  form,  partly  subterranean  and  partly 
above  ground ;  and  closed  in  on  all  sides,  except  the  one  by 
which  it  is  entered.  You  descend  into  the  interior  by  a  few 
steps,  and  there  find  an  altar  with  burning  tapers.  This  is  the 
spot  which  is  held  in  greater  sanctity  than  any  other  at  Jerusa- 
lem, When  you  have  seen  enough  of  it,  you  feel  perhaps 
weary  of  the  busy  crowd  and  inclined  for  a  gallop  ;  you  ask 
your  Dragoman  whether  there  will  be  time  before  sunset  to 
procure  horses  and  take  a  ride  to  Mount  Calvary.  Mount  Cal- 
vary, Signer  ? — eccolo  ! — it  is  up  stairs — on  the  first  floor.  In 
effect  you  ascend,  if  I  remember  rightly,  just  thirteen  steps, 
and  then  you  are  shown  the  now  golden  sockets  in  which  the 
crosses  of  our  Lord  and  the  two  thieves  were  fixed.  All  this 
is  startling,  but  the  truth  is,  that  the  city  having  gathered  round 
the  Sepulchre,  which  is  the  main  point  of  interest,  has  crept 
northward,  and  thus  in  a  great  measure  are  occasioned  the 
many  geographical  surprises  which  puzzle  the  "  Bible  Chris- 
tian." 


122  EOTHEN.  [CHAP.  xvi. 

The  church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre  comprises  very  compendi- 
ously almost  all  the  spots  associated  with  the  closing  career  of 
our  Lord.  Just  there,  on  your  right,  he  stood  and  wept;  by  the 
pillar  on  your  left  he  was  scourged  ;  on  the  spot  just  before  you 
he  was  crowned  with  the  crown  of  thorns  ;  up  there  he  was  cru- 
cified, and  down  here  he  was  buried.  A  locality  is  assigned  to  every 
the  minutest  event  connected  with  the  recorded  history  of  our  Sa- 
viour ;  even  the  spot  where  the  cock  crew,  when  Peter  denied 
his  Master,  is  ascertained  and  surrounded  by  the  walls  of  an 
Armenian  convent.  Many  Protestants  are  wont  to  treat  these 
traditions  contemptuously,  and  those  who  distinguish  themselves 
from  their  brethren  by  the  appellation  of  "  Bible  Christians," 
are  almost  fierce  in  their  denunciation  of  these  supposed  errors. 

It  is  admitted,  I  believe,  by  everybody,  that  the  formal  sanc- 
tification  of  these  spots  was  the  act  of  the  Empress  Helena, 
the  mother  of  Constantino,  but  I  think  it  is  fair  to  suppose  that 
she  was  guided  by  a  careful  regard  to  the  then  prevailing  tra- 
ditions. Now  the  nature  of  the  ground  upon  which  Jerusalem 
stands,  is  such  that  the  localities  belonging  to  the  events  there 
enacted  might  have  been  more  easily  and  permanently  ascer- 
tained by  tradition  than  those  of  any  city  that  I  know  of.  Jeru- 
salem, whether  ancient  or  modern,  was  built  upon  and  surrounded 
by  sharp,  salient  rocks,  intersected  by  deep  ravines.  Up  to  the 
time  of  the  siege,  Mount  Calvary,  of  course,  must  have  been 
well  enough  known  to  the  people  of  Jerusalem ;  the  destruction 
of  the  mere  buildings  could  not  have  obliterated  from  any  man's 
memory  the  names  of  those  steep  rocks  and  narrow  ravines  in 
the  midst  of  which  the  city  had  stood.  It  seems  to  me,  therefore, 
highly  probable  that  in  fixing  the  site  of  Calvary,  the  Empress 
was  rightly  guided.  Recollect,  too,  that  the  voice  of  tradition  at 
Jerusalem  is  quite  unanimous,  and  that  Romans,  Greeks,  Arme- 
nians, and  Jews,  all  hating  each  other  sincerely,  concur  in 
assigning  the  same  localities  to  the  events  told  in  the  Gospel.  I 
concede,  however,  that  the  attempt  of  the  Empress  to  ascertain 
the  sites  of  the  minor  events  cannot  be  safely  relied  upon.  With 
respect,  for  instance,  to  the  certainty  of  the  spot  where  the  cock 
crew,  I  am  far  from  being  convinced. 

Supposing  that  the  Empress  acted  arbitrarily  in  fixing  the 


CHAP,  xvi.]  TERRA  SANTA.  123 

holy  sites,  it  would  seem  that  she  followed  the  Gospel  of  St. 
John,  and  that  the  geography  sanctioned  by  her  can  be  more 
easily  reconciled  with  that  history  than  with  the  accounts  of  the 
other  Evangelists. 

The  authority  exercised  by  the  Mussulman  Government  in  re- 
lation to  the  Holy  sites,  is  in  one  view  somewhat  humbling  to  the 
Christians,  for  it  is  almost  as  an  arbitrator  between  the  contend- 
ing sects  (this  always,  of  course,  for  the  sake  of  pecuniary 
advantage),  that  the  Mussulman  lends  his  contemptuous  aid  ;  he 
not  only  grants  but  enforces  toleration.  All  persons,  of  what- 
ever religion,  are  allowed  to  go  as  they  will  into  every  part  of 
the  church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  but  in  order  to  prevent  inde- 
cent contests,  and  also  from  motives  arising  out  of  money  pay- 
ments, the  Turkish  Government  assigns  the  peculiar  care  of 
each  sacred  spot  to  one  of  the  ecclesiastic  bodies.  Since  this 
guardianship  carries  with  it  the  receipt  of  the  coins  which  the 
pilgrims  leave  upon  the  shrines,  it  is  strenuously  fought  for  by 
all  the  rival  Churches,  and  the  artifices  of  intrigue  are  busily 
exerted  at  Stamboul  in  order  to  procure  the  issue  or  revocation 
of  the  Firmans,  by  which  the  coveted  privilege  is  granted.  In 
this  strife  the  Greek  Church  has  of  late  years  signally  triumph- 
ed, and  the  most  famous  of  the  shrines  are  committed  to  the  care 
of  their  priesthood.  They  possess  the  golden  socket  in  which 
stood  the  cross  of  our  Lord,  whilst  the  Latins  are  obliged  to  con- 
tent themselves  with  the  apertures  in  which  were  inserted  the 
crosses  of  the  two  thieves  ;  they  are  naturally  discontented  with 
that  poor  privilege,  and  sorrowfully  look  back  to  the  days  of 
their  former  glory — the  days  when  Napoleon  was  Emperor,  and 
Sebastiani  was  minister  at  the  Porte.  It  seems  that  the  "  citi- 
zen" Sultan,  old  Louis  Philippe,  has  done  very  little  indeed  for 
Holy  Church  in  Palestine. 

Although  the  Pilgrims  perform  their  devotions  at  the  several 
shrines  with  so  little  apparent  enthusiasm,  they  are  driven  to 
the  verge  of  madness  by  the  miracle  which  is  displayed  to  them 
on  Easter  Saturday.  Then  it  is  that  the  heaven-sent  fire  issues 
from  the  Holy  Sepulchre.  The  Pilgrims  all  assemble  in  the 
great  Church,  and  already,  long  before  the  wonder  is  worked, 
they  are  wrought  by  anticipation  of  God's  sign,  as  well  as  by 


124  EOTHEN.  [CHAP.  xvi. 

their  struggles  for  room  and  breathing  space,  to  a  most  frightful 
state  of  excitement.  At  length  the  Chief  Priest  of  the  Greeks, 
accompanied  (of  all  people  in  the  world)  by  the  Turkish  Gov- 
ernor, enters  the  tomb.  After  this  there  is  a  long  pause,  and 
then,  suddenly,  from  out  of  the  small  apertures  on  either  side  of 
the  Sepulchre,  there  issue  long,  shining  flames.  The  pilgrims 
now  rush  forward,  madly  struggling  to  light  their  tapers  at  the 
holy  fire.  This  is  the  dangerous  moment,  and  many  lives  are 
often  lost. 

The  year  before  that  of  my  going  to  Jerusalem,  Ibrahim  Pa- 
sha, from  some  whim  or  motive  of  policy,  chose  to  witness  the 
miracle.  The  vast  Church  was  of  course  thronged,  as  it  always 
is  on  that  awful  day.  It  seems  that  the  appearance  of  the  fire 
was  delayed  for  a  very  long  time,  and  that  the  growing  frenzy 
of  the  people  was  heightened  by  suspense.  Many,  too,  had 
already  sunk  under  the  effect  of  the  heat  and  the  stifling  atmo- 
sphere, when  at  last  the  fire  flashed  from  the  Sepulchre.  Then 
a  terrible  struggle  ensued — many  sunk  and  were  crushed. 
Ibrahim  had  taken  his  station  in  one  of  the  galleries,  but  now, 
feeling  perhaps  his  brave  blood  warmed  by  the  sight  and  sound 
of  such  strife,  he  took  upon  himself  to  quiet  the  people  by  his 
personal  presence,  and  descended  into  the  body  of  the  Church 
with  only  a  few  guards  ;  he  had  forced  his  way  into  the  midst 
of  the  dense  crowd,  when  unhappily  he  fainted  away  ;  his  guards 
shrieked  out,  and  the  event  instantly  became  known.  A  body  of 
soldiers  recklessly  forced  their  way  through  the  crowd,  trampling 
over  every  obstacle  that  they  might  save  the  life  of  their  gene- 
ral. Nearly  two  hundred  people  were  killed  in  the  struggle. 

The  following  year,  however,  the  Government  took  better 
measures  for  the  prevention  of  these  calamities.  I  was  not  pre- 
sent at  the  ceremony,  having  gone  away  from  Jerusalem  some 
time  before,  but  I  afterwards  returned  into  Palestine,  and  I  then 
learned  that  the  day  had  passed  off"  without  any  disturbance  of 
a  fatal  kind.  It  is,  however,  almost  too  much  to  expect  that  so 
many  ministers  of  peace  can  assemble  without  finding  some 
occasion  for  strife,  and  in  that  year  a  tribe  of  wild  Bedouins 
became  the  subject  of  discord  ;  these  men,  it  seems,  led  an  Arab 
life  in  some  of  the  desert  tracts  bordering  on  the  neighborhood  of 


CHAP,  xvi.]  TERRA  SANTA.  125 

Jerusalem,  but  were  not  connected  with  any  of  the  great  ruling 
tribes.  Some  whim  or  notion  of  policy  had  induced  them  to 
embrace  Christianity,  but  they  were  grossly  ignorant  of  the 
rudiments  of  their  adopted  faith,  and  having  no  priests  with  them 
in  their  desert,  they  had  as  little  knowledge  of  religious  cere- 
. monies  as  of  Religion  itself;  they  were  not  even  capable  of 
conducting  themselves  in  a  place  of  worship  with  ordinary 
decorum,  but  would  interrupt  the  service  with  scandalous  cries 
and  warlike  shouts.  Such  is  the  account  the  Latins  give  of 
them,  but  I  have  never  heard  the  other  side  of  the  question. 
These  wild  fellows,  notwithstanding  their  entire  ignorance  of  all 
religion,  are  yet  claimed  by  the  Greeks,  not  only  as  proselytes 
who  have  embraced  Christianity  generally,  but  as  converts  to 
the  particular  doctrines  and  practice  of  their  church.  The 
people  thus  alleged  to  have  concurred  in  the  great  schism  of  the 
Eastern  Empire,  are  never,  I  believe,  within  the  walls  of  a 
church,  or  even  of  any  building  at  all,  except  upon  this  occa- 
sion of  Easter,  and  as  they  then  never  fail  to  find  a  row  of  some 
kind  going  on  by  the  side  of  the  Sepulchre,  they  fancy,  it  seems, 
that  the  ceremonies  there  enacted  are  funeral  games,  of  a  mar- 
tial character,  held  in  honor  of  a  deceased  chieftain,  and  that  a 
Christian  festival  is  a  peculiar  kind  of  battle  fought  between 
walls  and  without  cavalry.  It  does  not  appear,  however,  that 
these  men  are  guilty  of  any  ferocious  acts,  or  that  they  attempt 
to  commit  depredations.  The  charge  against  them  is  merely, 
that  by  their  way  of  applauding  the  performance — by  their  hor- 
rible cries  and  frightful  gestures,  they  destroy  the  solemnity  of 
divine  service,  and  upon  this  ground  the  Franciscans  obtained 
a  firman  for  the  exclusion  of  such  tumultuous  worshippers. 
The  Greeks,  however,  did  not  choose  to  lose  the  aid  of  their 
wild  converts,  merely  because  they  were  a  little  backward  in 
their  religious  education,  and  they  therefore  persuaded  them  to 
defy  the  firmah  by  entering  the  city  en  masse,  and  overawing 
their  enemies.  The  Franciscans,  as  well  as  the  Government 
authorities,  were  obliged  to  give  way,  and  the  Arabs  triumph- 
antly marched  into  the  church.  The  festival,  however,  must 
have  seemed  to  them  rather  flat,  for  although  there  may  have 
been  some  "  casualties"  in  the  way  of  black  eyes,  and  noses 


126  EOTHEN.  [CHAP.  xvi. 

bloody,    and   women    "  missing,"    there     was    no     return   of 
"killed." 

Formerly  the  Latin  Catholics  concurred  in  acknowledging 
(but  not  I  hope  in  working)  the  annual  miracle  of  the  heavenly 
fire,  but  they  have  for  many  years  withdrawn  their  countenance 
from  this  exhibition,  and  they  now  repudiate  it  as  a  trick  of  the 
Greek  church.  Thus,  of  course,  the  violence  of  feeling  with 
which  the  rival  churches  meet  at  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  on  Easter 
Saturday,  is  greatly  increased,  and  a  disturbance  of  some  kind  is 
certain.  In  the  year  I  speak  of,  though  no  lives  were  lost,  there 
was,  as  it  seems,  a  tough  struggle  in  the  church.  I  was  amused 
at  hearing  of  a  taunt  that  was  thrown  that  day  upon  an  English 
traveller :  he  had  taken  his  station  in  a  convenient  part  of  the 
church,  and  was  no  doubt  displaying  that  peculiar  air  of  serenity 
and  gratification  with  which  an  English  gentleman  usually 
looks  on  at  a  row,  when  one  of  the  Franciscans  came  by,  all 
reeking  from  the  fight,  and  was  so  disgusted  at  the  coolness  and 
placid  contentment  of  the  Englishman  (who  was  a  guest  at  the 
convent,  that  he  forgot  his  monkish  humility  as  well  as  the  duties 
of  hospitality,  and  plainly  said,  "  You  sleep  under  our  roof — you 
eat  our  bread — you  drink  our  wine,  and  then  when  Easter  Satur- 
day comes  you  don't  fight  for  us !" 

Yet  these  rival  churches  go  on  quietly  enough  till  their  blood 
is  up.  The  terms  on  which  they  live  remind  one  of  the  peculiar 
relation  subsisting  at  Cambridge  between  "  town  and  gown." 

These  contests  and  disturbances  certainly  do  not  originate 
with  the  lay  pilgrims,  the  great  body  of  whom  are,  as  I  believe, 
quiet  and  inoffensive  people  ;  it  is  true,  however,  that  their  pious 
enterprise  is  believed  by  them  to  operate  as  a  counterpoise  for  a 
multitude  of  sins,  whether  past  or  future,  and  perhaps  they 
exert  themselves  in  after  life  to  restore  the  balance  of  good  and 
evil.  The  Turks  have  a  maxim,  which,  like  most  cynical 
apothegms  carries  with  it  the  buzzing  trumpet  of  falsehood,  as 
well  as  the  small,  fine  "  sting  of  truth."  "  If  your  friend  has 
made  the  pilgrimage  once,  distrust  him — if  he  has  made  the  pil- 
grimage twice,  cut  him  dead!"  The  caution  is  said  to  be  as 
applicable  to  the  visitants  of  Jerusalem  as  to  those  of  Mecca,  but 


CHAP,  xvi.]  TERRA  SANTA.  127 

I  cannot  help  believing  that  the  frailties  of  all  the  Hadjis,*  whether 
Christian  or  Mahometan,  are  greatly  exaggerated.  I  certainly 
regarded  the  pilgrims  to  Palestine  as  a  well-disposed,  orderly 
body  of  people,  not  strongly  enthusiastic,  but  desirous  to  comply 
with  the  ordinances  of  their  religion,  and  to  attain  the  great  end 
of  salvation  as  quietly  and  economically  as  possible. 

When  the  solemnities  of  Easter  are  concluded,  the  pilgrims 
move  off  in  a  body  to  complete  their  good  work,  by  visiting  the 
sacred  scenes  in  the  neighborhood  of  Jerusalem,  including  the 
Wilderness  of  John  the  Baptist,  Bethlehem,  and  above  all  the 
Jordan,  for  to  bathe  in  those  sacred  waters  is  one  of  the  chief 
objects  of  the  expedition.  All  the  pilgrims — men,  women,  and 
children,  are  submerged,  en  chemise,  and  the  saturated  linen  is 
carefully  wrapped  up,  and  preserved  as  a  burial  dress  that  shall 
inure  for  salvation  in  the  realms  of  death. 

I  saw  the  burial  of  a  pilgrim ;  he  was  a  Greek — miserably 
poor  and  very  old — he  had  just  crawled  into  the  Holy  City,  and 
had  reached  at  once  the  goal  of  his  pious  journey  and  the  end  of 
his  sufferings  upon  earth  ;  there  was  no  coffin  nor  wrapper,  and 
as  I  looked  full  upon  the  face  of  the  dead,  I  saw  how  deeply  it 
was  rutted  with  the  ruts  of  age  and  misery.  The  priest,  strong 
and  portly,  fresh,  fat,  and  alive  with  the  life  of  the  animal  king- 
dom— unpaid,  or  ill  paid  for  his  work,  would  scarcely  deign  to 
mutter  out  his  forms,  but  hurried  over  the  words  with  shocking 
haste;  presently  he  called  out  impatiently — "Yalla!  Goor!" 
(Come !  look  sharp !)  and  then  the  dead  Greek  was  seized ;  his 
limbs  yielded  inertly  to  the  rude  men  that  handled  them,  and 
down  he  went  into  his  grave,  so  roughly  bundled  in  that  his  neck 
was  twisted  by  the  fall, — so  twisted,  that  if  the  sharp  malady  of 
life  were  still  upon  him  the  old  man  would  have  shrieked  and 
groaned,  and  the  lines  of  his  face  would  have  quivered  with 
pain ;  the  lines  of  his  face  were  not  moved,  and  the  old  man  lay 
still  and  heedless — so  well  cured  of  that  tedious  life-ache,  that 
nothing  could  hurt  him  now.  His  clay  was  itself  again — cool, 
firm,  and  tough.  The  pilgrim  had  found  great  rest ;  I  threw 
the  accustomed  handful  of  the  holy  soil  upon  his  patient  face, 

*  Hadji — a  pilgrim. 


EOTHEN.  [CHAP.  xvi. 


and  then,  and  in  less  than  a  minute,  the  earth  closed  coldly 
round  him. 

I  did  not  say  "  Alas !" — (nobody  ever  does  that  I  know  of, 
though  the  word  is  so  frequently  written).  I  thought  the  old 
man  had  got  rather  well  out  of  the  scrape  of  being  alive  and  poor. 

The  destruction  of  the  mere  buildings  in  such  a  place  as  Jeru- 
salem would  not  involve  the  permanent  dispersion  of  the  inhabit- 
ants, for  the  rocky  neighborhood  in  which  the  town  is  situate 
abounds  in  caves,  which  would  give  an  easy  refuge  to  the  peo- 
ple until  they  gained  an  opportunity  of  rebuilding  their  dwell- 
ings. Therefore  I  could  not  help  looking  upon  the  Jews  of 
Jerusalem,  as  being  in  some  sort  the  representatives,  if  not  the 
actual  descendants,  of  the  rascals  who  crucified  our  Saviour. 
Supposing  this  to  be  the  case,  I  felt  that  there  would  be  some 
interest  in  knowing  how  the  events  of  the  Gospel  History  were 
regarded  by  the  Israelites  of  modern  Jerusalem.  The  result  of 
my  inquiry  upon  this  subject,  was,  so  far  as  it  went,  entirely 
favorable  to  the  truth  of  Christianity.  I  understood  that 
the  performance  of  the  miracles  was  not  doubted  by  any  of  the 
Jews  in  the  place;  all  of  them  concurred  in  attributing  the 
works  of  our  Lord  to  the  influence  of  magic,  but  they  were 
divided  as  to  the  species  of  enchantment  from  which  the  power 
proceeded ;  the  great  mass  of  the  Jewish  people  believed,  I 
fancy,  that  the  miracles  had  been  wrought  by  aid  of  the  powers 
of  darkness,  but  many,  and  those  the  more  enlightened,  would 
call  Jesus  "  the  good  Magician."  To  Europeans  repudiating 
the  notion  of  all  magic,  good  or  bad,  the  opinion  of  the  Jews  as 
to  the  agency  by  which  the  miracles  were  worked,  is  a  matter 
of  no  importance,  but  the  circumstance  of  their  admitting  that 
those  miracles  icere  in  fact  performed,  is  certainly  curious,  and 
perhaps  not  quite  immaterial. 

If  you  stay  in  the  Holy  City  long  enough  to  fall  into  anything 
like  regular  habits  of  amusement  and  occupation,  and  to  become 
in  short  for  the  time  a  "  man  about  town"  at  Jerusalem,  you 
will  necessarily  lose  the  enthusiasm  which  you  may  have  felt 
when  you  trod  the  sacred  soil  for  the  first  time,  and  it  will  then 
seem  almost  strange  to  you  to  find  yourself  so  thoroughly  sur- 
rounded in  all  your  daily  pursuits  by  the  signs  and  sounds  of  re- 


CHAP.  XVL]  TERRA  SANTA.  129 

ligion.  Your  Hotel  is  a  monastery — your  rooms  are  cells — the 
landlord  is  a  stately  abbot  and  the  waiters  are  hooded  monks. — 
If  you  walk  out  of  the  town  you  find  yourself  on  the  Mount  of 
Olives,  or  in  the  Valley  of  Jehoshaphat,  or  on  the  Hill  of  Evil 
Counsel.  If  you  mount  your  horse  and  extend  your  rambles, 
you  will  be  guided  to  the  wilderness  of  St.  John,  or  the  birth- 
place of  our  Saviour.  Your  club  is  the  great  Church  of  the 
Holy  Sepulchre,  where  everybody  meets  everybody  every  day. 
If  you  lounge  through  the  town,  your  Bond  Street  is  the  Via 
Dolorosa,  and  the  object  of  your  hopeless  affections  is  some 
maid  or  matron  all  forlorn,  and  sadly  shrouded  in  her  pilgrim's 
robe.  If  you  would  hear  music,  it  must  be  the  chaunting  of 
friars — if  you  look  at  pictures,  you  see  Virgins  with  mis-fore- 
shortened arms,  or  devils  out  of  drawing,  or  angels  tumbling  up 
the  skies  in  impious  perspective.  If  you  make  any  purchases 
you  must  go  again  to  the  church  doors,  and  when  you  inquire  for 
the  manufactures  of  the  place,  you  find  that  they  consist  of 
double-blessed  beads  and  sanctified  shells.  These  last  are  the 
favorite  tokens  which  the  pilgrims  carry  off  with  them ;  the 
shell  is  graven  or  rather  scratched  on  the  white  side  with  a  rude 
drawing  of  the  Blessed  Virgin,  or  of  the  Crucifixion,  or  some 
other  scriptural  subject ;  and  having  passed  this  stage,  it  goes 
into  the  hands  of  a  priest ;  by  him  it  is  subjected  to  some  pro- 
cess for  rendering  it  efficacious  against  the  schemes  of  our  ghostly 
enemy  ;  the  manufacture  is  then  complete,  and  deemed  to  be  fit 
for  use. 

The  village  of  Bethlehem  lies  prettily  couched  on  the  slope  of 
a  hill.  The  sanctuary  is  a  subterranean  grotto,  and  is  committed 
to  the  joint-guardianship  of  the  Romans,  Greeks,  and  Arme- 
nians, who  vie  with  each  other  in  adorning  it.  Beneath  an  altar 
gorgeously  decorated,  and  lit  with  everlasting  fires,  there  stands 
the  low  slab  of  stone  which  marks  the  holy  site  of  the  Nativity ; 
and  near  to  this  is  a  hollow  scooped  out  of  the  living  rock.  Here- 
the  infant  Jesus  was  laid.  Near  the  spot  of  the  Nativity  is  the 
rock  against  which  the  Blessed  Virgin  was  leaning  when  she 
presented  her  babe  to  the  adoring  shepherds. 

Many  of  those  Protestants  who  are  accustomed  to  despise  tra- 
dition, consider  that  this  sanctuary  is  altogether  unscriptural — 
10 


130  EOTHEN.  [CHAP.  xvi. 

that  a  grotto  is  not  a  stable,  and  that  mangers  are  made  of  wood. 
It  is  perfectly  true,  however,  that  the  many  grottos  and  caves 
which  are  found  among  the  rocks  of  Judea  were  formerly  used 
for  the  reception  of  cattle ;  they  are  so  used  at  this  day ;  I  have 
myself  seen  grottos  appropriated  to  this  purpose. 

You  know  what  a  sad  and  sombre  decorum  it  is  that  outward- 
ly reigns  through  the  lands  oppressed  by  Moslem  sway.  The 
Mahometans  make  beauty  their  prisoner,  and  enforce  such  a 
stern  and  gloomy  morality,  or  at  all  events  such  a  frightfully 
close  semblance  of  it,  that  far  and  long  the  wearied  traveller 
may  go  without  catching  one  glimpse  of  outward  happiness.  By 
a  strange  chance  in  these  latter  days,  it  happened,  that  alone  of 
all  the  places  in  the  land,  this  Bethlehem,  the  native  village  of 
our  Lord,  escaped  the  moral  yoke  of  the  Mussulmans,  and  heard 
again,  after  ages  of  dull  oppression,  the  cheering  clatter  of  social 
freedom  and  the  voices  of  laughing  girls.  It  was  after  an  insur- 
rection which  had  been  raised  against  the  authority  of  Mehemet 
Ali,  that  Bethlehem  was  freed  from  the  hateful  laws  of  Asiatic 
decorum.  The  Mussulmans  of  the  village  had  taken  an  active 
part  in  the  movement,  and  when  Ibrahim  had  quelled  it,  his 
wrath  was  still  so  hot  that  he  put  to  death  every  one  of  the  few 
Mahometans  of  Bethlehem  who  had  not  already  fled.  The  effect 
produced  upon  the  Christian  inhabitants  by  the  sudden  removal 
of  this  restraint  was  immense.  The  village  smiled  once  more. 
It  is  true  that  such  sweet  freedom  could  not  long  endure.  Even 
if  the  population  of  the  place  should  continue  to  be  entirely 
Christian,  the  sad  decorum  of  the  Mussulmans,  or  rather  of  the 
Asiatics,  would  sooner  or  later  be  restored  by  the  force  of 
opinion  and  custom.  But  for  a  while  the  sunshine  would  last, 
and  when  I  was  at  Bethlehem,  though  long  after  the  flight  of  the 
Mussulmans,  the  cloud  of  Moslem  propriety  had  not  yet  come 
back  to  cast  its  cold  shadow  upon  life.  When  you  reach  that 
gladsome  village,  pray  Heaven  there  still  may  be  heard  there 
the  voice  of  free,  innocent  girls.  It  will  sound  so  dearly  wel- 
come ! 

To  a  Christian,  and  thorough-bred  Englishman,  not  even  the 
licentiousness  which  generally  accompanies  it,  can  compensate 
for  the  oppressiveness  of  that  horrible  outward  decorum,  which 


CHAP,  xvi.]  TERRA  SANTA.  131 

turns  the  cities  and  the  palaces  of  Asia  into  deserts  and  gaols. 
So,  I  say,  when  you  see,  and  hear  them,  those  romping  girls  of 
Bethlehem  will  gladden  your  very  soul.  Distant  at  first,  and 
then  nearer  and  nearer,  the  timid  flock  will  gather  around  you 
with  their  large,  burning  eyes  gravely  fixed  against  yours,  so 
that  they  see  into  your  brain,  and  if  you  imagine  evil  against 
them,  they  will  know  of  your  ill  thought  before  it  is  yet  well 
born,  and  will  fly,  and  be  gone  in  the  moment.  But  presently 
if  you  will  only  look  virtuous  enough  to  prevent  alarm,  and 
vicious  enough  to  avoid  looking  silly,  the  blithe  maidens  will 
draw  nearer  and  nearer  Jo  you,  and  soon  there  will  be  one,  the 
bravest  of  the  sisters,  who  will  venture  right  up  to  your  side, 
and  touch  the  hem  of  your  coat,  in  playful  defiance  of  the 
danger,  and  then  the  rest  will  follow  the  daring  of  their  youth- 
ful leader,  and  gather  close  round  you,  and  hold  a  shrill  con- 
troversy on  the  wondrous  formation  that  you  call  a  hat,  and  the 
cunning  of  the  hands  that  clothed  you  with  cloth  so  fine ;  and 
then  growing  more  profound  in  their  researches,  they  will  pass 
from  the  study  of  your  mere  dress,  to  a  serious  contemplation 
of  your  stately  height,  and  your  nut-brown  hair,  and  the  ruddy 
glow  of  your  English  cheeks.  And  if  they  catch  a  glimpse  of 
your  ungloved  fingers,  then  again  will  they  make  the  air  ring 
with  their  sweet  screams  of  wonder  and  amazement,  as  they 
compare  the  fairness  of  your  hand  with  their  warmer  tints,  and 
even  with  the  hues  of  your  own  sunburnt  face  ;  instantly  the  ' 
ringleader  of  the  gentle  rioters  imagines  a  new  sin  ;  with  tremu- 
lous boldness  she  touches — then  grasps  your  hand,  and  smoothes 
it  gently  betwixt  her  own,  and  pries  curiously  into  its  make  and 
color,  as  though  it  were  silk  of  Damascus,  or  shawl  of  Cash- 
mere. And  when  they  see  you  even  then,  still  sage  and  gentle, 
the  joyous  girls  will  suddenly,  and  screamingly,  and  all  at  once, 
explain  to  each  other  that  you  are  surely  quite  harmless,  and 
innocent — a  lion  that  makes  no  spring — a  bear  that  never  hugs, 
and  upon  this  faith,  one  after  the  other,  they  will  take  your 
passive  hand,  and  strive  to  explain  it,  and  make  it  a  theme  and 
a  controversy.  '  But  the  one — the  fairest,  and  the  sweetest  of 
all,  is  yet  the  most  timid  ;  she  shrinks  from  the  daring  deeds  of 
her  playmates,  and  seeks  shelter  behind  their  sleeves,  and  strives 


132  EOTHEN.  [CHAP.  xvi. 

to  screen  her  glowing  consciousness  from  the  eyes  that  look  upon 
her  ;  but  her  laughing  sisters  will  have  none  of  this  cowardice 
— they  vow  that  the  fair  one  shall  be  their  complice — shall  share 
their  dangers — shall  touch  the  hand  of  the  stranger ;  they 
seize  her  small  wrist,  and  drag  her  forward  by  force,  and  at 
last,  whilst  yet  she  strives  to  turn  away,  and  to  cover  up  her 
whole  soul  under  the  folds  of  downcast  eyelids,  they  vanquish 
her  utmost  strength — they  vanquish  your  utmost  modesty,  and 
marry  her  hand  to  yours.  The  quick  pulse  springs  from  her 
fingers,  and  throbs  like  a  whisper  upon  your  listening  palm. 
For  an  instant  her  large,  timid  eyes  are  upon  you — in  an  instant 
they  are  shrouded  again,  and  there  comes  a  blush  so  burning, 
that  the  frightened  girls  stay  their  shrill  laughter,  as  though 
they  had  played  too  perilously,  and  harmed  their  gentle  sister. 
A  moment,  and  all,  with  a  sudden  intelligence,  turn  away,  and 
fly  like  deer,  yet  soon  again,  like  deer  they  wheel  round,  and 
return,  and  stand  and  gaze  upon  the  danger,  until  they  grow 
brave  once  more. 

"  I  regret  to  observe  that  the  removal  of  the  moral  restraint 
imposed  by  the  presence  of  the  Mahometan  inhabitants,  has  led 
to  a  certain  degree  of  boisterous,  though  innocent  levity,  in  the 
bearing  of  the  Christians,  and  more  especially  in  the  demeanor 
of  those  who  belong  to  the  younger  portion  of  the  female  popu- 
lation, but  I  feel  assured  that  a  more  thorough  knowledge  of  the 
•principles  of  their  own  pure  religion,  will  speedily  restore  these 
young  people  to  habits  of  propriety,  even  more  strict  than  those 
which  were  imposed  upon  them  by  the  authority  of  their  Ma- 
hometan brethren."  Bah  !  thus  you  might  chaunt,  if  you 
chose  ;  but  loving  the  truth,  you  will  not  so  disown  sweet 
Bethlehem — you  will  not  disown,  nor  dissemble  the  right  good 
hearty  delight,  with  which,  in  the  midst  of  the  arid  waste,  you 
found  this  gushing  spring  of  fresh  and  joyous  girlhood. 


CHAP,  xvii.]  THE  DESERT.  133 


CHAPTER  XVII. 
The  Desert. 

GAZA  is  upon  the  edge  of  the  Desert,  to  which  it  stands  in  the 
same  relation  as  a  sea-port  to  the  sea.  It  is  there  that  you  char- 
ter your  camels  ("  the  ships  of  the  Desert"),  and  lay  in  your 
stores  for  the  voyage. 

These  preparations  kept  me  in  the  town  for  some  days ;  dis- 
liking restraint,  I  declined  making  myself  the  guest  of  the  Gov- 
ernor (as  it  is  usual  and  proper  to  do),  but  took  up  my  quarters 
at  the  Caravanserai,  or  "  Khan,"  as  they  call  it  in  that  part  of 
Asia. 

Dthemetri  had  to  make  the  arrangements  for  my  journey,  and 
in  order  to  arm  himself  with  sufficient  authority  for  doing  all 
that  was  required,  he  found  it  necessary  to  put  himself  in  com- 
munication with  the  Governor.  The  result  of  this  diplomatic 
intercourse  was  that  the  Governor,  with  his  train  of  attend- 
ants, came  to  me  one  day  at  my  Caravanserai,  and  formally 
complained  that  Dthemetri  had  grossly  insulted  him.  I  was 
shocked  at  this,  for  the  man  was  always  attentive  and  civil  to 
me,  and  I  was  disgusted  at  the  idea  of  his  having  been  reward- 
ed with  insult.  Dthemetri  was  present  when  the  complaint  was 
made,  and  I  angrily  asked  him  whether  it  was  true  that  he  had 
really  insulted  the  Governor,  and  what  the  deuce  he  meant  by 
it.  This  I  asked,  with  the  full  certainty  that  Dthemetri,  as  a 
matter  of  course,  would  deny  the  charge — would  swear  that  a 
11  wrong  construction  had  been  put  upon  his  words,  and  that  noth- 
ing was  further  from  his  thoughts,"  &c.  &c.,  after  the  manner 
of  the  parliamentary  people,  but  to  my  surprise,  he  very  plainly 
answered  that  he  certainly  had  insulted  the  Governor,  and  that 
rather  grossly,  but,  he  said,  it  was  quite  necessary  to  do  this,  in 
order  to  '.'  strike  terror,  and  inspire  respect."  "  Terror  and 


134  EOTHEN.  [CHAP.  xvn. 

respect !  What  on  earth  do  you  mean  by  that  nonsense  ?" — 
"  Yes,  but  without  striking  terror,  and  inspiring  respect,  he 
(Dthemetri)  would  never  be  able  to  force  on  the  arrangements 
for  my  journey,  and  Vossignoria  would  be  kept  at  Gaza  for  a 
month !"  This  would  have  been  awkward,  and  certainly  I 
could  not  deny  that  poor  Dthemetri  had  succeeded  in  his  odd 
plan  of  inspiring  respect,  for  at  the  very  time  that  this  explana- 
tion was  going  on  in  Italian,  the  Governor  seemed  more  than 
ever,  and  more  anxiously  disposed  to  overwhelm  me  with  assur- 
ances of  good  will,  and  proffers  of  his  best  services.  All  this 
kindness,  or  promise  of  kindness,  I  naturally  received  with 
courtesy — a  courtesy  that  greatly  perturbed  Dthemetri,  for  he 
evidently  feared  that  my  civility  would  undo  all  the  good  that 
his  insults  had  achieved. 

You  will  find,  I  think,  that  one  of  the  greatest  drawbacks  to 
the  pleasure  of  travelling  in  Asia,  is  the  being  obliged  more  or 
less  to  make  your  way  by  bullying.  It  is  true  that  your  own 
lips  are  not  soiled  by  the  utterance  of  all  the  mean  words  that 
are  spoken  for  you,  and  that  you  don't  even  know  of  the  sham 
threats,  and  the  false  promises,  and  the  vain-glorious  boasts  put 
forth  by  your  dragoman  ;  but  now  and  then  there  happens  some 
incident  of  the  sort  which  I  have  just  been  mentioning,  which 
forces  you  to  believe,  or  suspect,  that  your  dragoman  is  habitu- 
ally fighting  your  battles  for  you  in  a  way  that  you  can  hardly 
bear  to  think  of. 

A  Caravanserai  is  not  ill  adapted  to  the  purposes  for  which  it 
is  meant ;  it  forms  the  four  sides  of  a  large  quadrangular  court. 
The  ground  floor  is  used  for  warehouses,  the  first  floor  for  guests, 
and  the  open  court  for  the  temporary  reception  of  the  camels, 
as  well  as  for  the  loading  and  unloading  of  their  burthens,  and 
the  transaction  of  mercantile  business  generally.  The  apart- 
ments used  for  the  guests  are  small  cells  opening  into  a  corri- 
dor, which  runs  round  the  four  sides  of  the  court. 

Whilst  I  lay  near  the  opening  of  my  cell,  looking  down  into 
the  court  below,  there  arrived  from  the  Desert  a  caravan,  that 
is,  a  large  assemblage  of  travellers ;  it  consisted  chiefly  of  Mol- 
davian pilgrims,  who,  to  make  their  good  work  even  more  than 
complete,  had  begun  by  visiting  the  shrine  of  the  Virgin  in 


CHAP,  xvn.]  THE  DESERT.  135 

Egypt,  and  were  now  going  on  to  Jerusalem.  They  had  been 
overtaken  in  the  Desert  by  a  gale  of  wind,  which  so  drove  the 
sand,  and  raised  up  such  mountains  before  them,  that  their  jour- 
ney had  been  terribly  perplexed  and  obstructed,  and  their  pro- 
visions (including  water,  the  most  precious  of  all)  had  been 
exhausted  long  before  they  reached  the  end  of  their  toilsome 
march.  They  were  sadly  way-worn.  The  arrival  of  the 
caravan  drew  many  and  various  groups  into  the  court.  There 
was  the  Moldavian  pilgrim  with  his  sable  dress,  and  cap  of  fur, 
and  heavy  masses  of  bushy  hair — the  Turk  with  his  various 
and  brilliant  garments — the  Arab  superbly  stalking  under  his 
striped  blanket,  that  hung  like  royalty  upon  his  stately  form — 
the  jetty  Ethiopian  in  his  slavish  frock — the  sleek,  smooth-faced 
scribe  with  his  comely  pelisse,  and  his  silver  ink-box  stuck  in 
like  a  dagger  at  his  girdle.  And  mingled  with  these  were  the 
camels — some  standing — some  kneeling  and  being  unladen — 
some  twisting  round  their  long  necks,  and  gently  stealing  the 
straw  from  out  of  their  own  pack-saddles. 

In  a  couple  of  days  I  was  ready  to  start.  The  way  of  pro- 
viding for  the  passage  of  the  Desert  is  this  :  there  is  an  agent 
in  the  town  who  keeps  himself  in  communication  with  some  of 
the  desert  Arabs  that  are  hovering  within  a  day's  journey  of  the 
place  ;  a  party  of  these  upon  being  guaranteed  against  seizure, 
or  other  ill-treatment  at  the  hands  of  the  Governor,  come  into 
the  town  bringing  with  them  the  number  of  camels  which  you 
require,  and  then  they  stipulate  for  a  certain  sum  to  take  you  to 
the  place  of  your  destination  in  a  given  time ;  the  agreement 
which  they  thus  enter  into,  includes  a  safe-conduct,  through  their 
country,  as  well  as  the  hire  of  the  camels.  According  to  the 
contract  made  with  me,  I  was  to  reach  Cairo  within  ten  days 
from  the  commencement  of  the  journey.  I  had  four  camels,  one 
for  my  baggage,  one  for  each  of  my  servants,  and  one  for  my- 
self. Four  Arabs,  the  owners  of  the  camels,  came  with  me  on 
foot.  My  stores  were  a  small  soldier's  tent,  two  bags  of  dried 
bread  brought  from  the  convent  at  Jerusalem,  and  a  couple  of 
bottles  of  wine  from  the  same  source — two  goat-skins  filled  with 
water,  tea,  sugar,  and  cold  tongue,  and  (of  all  things  in  the 
world)  a  jar  of  Irish  butter,  which  Mysseri  had  purchased  from 


136  EOTHEN.  [CHAP.  xvii. 

some  merchant.  There  was  also  a  small  sack  of  charcoal,  for 
the  greater  part  of  the  desert,  through  which  we  were  to  pass, 
is  destitute  of  fuel. 

The  camel  kneels  to  receive  her  load,  and  for  a  while  she  will 
allow  the  packing  to  go  on  with  silent  resignation,  but  when  she 
begins  to  suspect  that  her  master  is  putting  more  than  a  just 
burthen  upon  her  poor  hump,  she  turns  round  her  supple  neck 
and  looks  sadly  upon  the  increasing  load,  and  then  gently  remon- 
strates against  the  wrong  with  the  sigh  of  a  patient  wife  ;  if  sighs 
will  not  move  you,  she  can  weep ;  you  soon  learn  to  pity,  and 
soon  to  love  her  for  the  sake  of  her  gentle  and  womanish  ways. 

You  cannot,  of  course,  put  an  English  or  any  other  riding 
saddle  upon  the  back  of  the  camel,  but  your  quilt,  or  carpet,  or 
whatever  you  carry  for  the  purpose  of  lying  on  at  night,  is  fold- 
ed and  fastened  on  the  pack-saddle  upon  the  top  of  the  hump, 
and  on  this  you  ride,  or  rather  sit.  You  sit  as  a  man  sits  on  a 
chair  when  he  sits  astride  and  faces  the  back  of  it.  I  made  an 
improvement  on  this  plan  ;  I  had  my  English  stirrups  strapped 
on  to  the  cross-bars  of  the  pack-saddle,  and  thus  by  gaining  rest 
for  my  dangling  legs,  and  gaining,  too,  the  power  of  varying 
my  position  more  easily  than  I  could  otherwise  have  done,  I  add- 
ed very  much  to  my  comfort.  Don't  forget  to  do  as  I  did. 

The  camel,  like  the  elephant,  is  one  of  the  old-fashioned  sort 
of  animals  that  still  walk  along  upon  the  (now  nearly  exploded) 
plan  of  the  ancient  beasts  that  lived  before  the  flood ;  she  moves 
forward  both  her  near  legs  at  the  same  time,  and  then  awkward- 
ly swings  round  her  off  shoulder  and  haunch,  so  as  to  repeat  the 
manoeuvre  on  that  side  ;  her  pace,  therefore,  is  an  odd,  disjoint- 
ed  and  disjoining  sort  of  movement  that  is  rather  disagreeable  at 
first,  but  you  soon  grow  reconciled  to  it ;  the  height  to  which 
you  are  raised  is  of  great  advantage  to  you  in  passing  the  burn- 
ing sands  of  the  desert,  for  the  air  at  such  a  distance  from  the 
ground  is  much  cooler  and  more  lively  than  that  which  circulates 
beneath. 

For  several  miles  beyond  Gaza,  the  land  which  had  been 
plentifully  watered  by  the  rains  of  the  last  week,  was  covered 
with  rich  verdure,  and  thickly  jewelled  with  meadow  flowers,  so 
fresh  and  fragrant  that  I  began  to  grow  almost  uneasy — to  fancy 


CHAP,  xvii.]  THE  DESERT.  137 


that  the  dcoort  was  receding  before  me,  and  that  the  long-desired 

adventure  of  passing  its  "  burning  sands,"  was  to  end  in  a  mere 
ride  across  a  field.  But  as  I  advanced  the  true  character  of  the 
country  began  to  display  itself  with  sufficient  clearness  to  dispel 
my  apprehensions,  and  before  the  close  of  my  first  day's  jour- 
ney I  had  the  gratification  of  finding  that  I  was  surrounded  on 
all  sides  by  a  tract  of  real  sand,  and  had  nothing  at  all  to  com- 
plain of,  except  that  there  peeped  forth  at  intervals  a  few  isolated 
blades  of  grass,  and  many  of  those  stunted  shrubs  which  are  the 
accustomed  food  of  the  camel. 

Before  sunset  I  came  up  with  an  encampment  of  Arabs  (the 
encampment  from  which  my  camels  had  been  brought),  and  my 
tent  was  pitched  amongst  theirs.  I  was  now  amongst  the  true 
Bedouins ;  almost  every  man  of  this  race  closely  resembles  his 
brethren  ;  almost  every  man  has  large  and  finely  formed  fea- 
tures, but  his  face  is  so  thoroughly  stripped  of  flesh,  and  the 
white  folds  from  his  head-gear  fall  down  by  his  haggard  cheeks, 
so  much  in  the  burial  fashion,  that  he  looks  quite  sad  and 
ghastly :  his  large  dark  orbs  roll  slowly  and  solemnly  over  the 
white  of  his  deep-set  eyes — his  countenance  shows  painful 
thought  and  long-suffering — the  suffering  of  one  fallen  from  a 
high  estate.  His  gait  is  strangely  majestic,  and  he  marches 
along  with  his  simple  blanket,  as  though  he  were  wearing  the 
purple.  His  common  talk  is  a  series  of  piercing  screams  and 
cries,*  more  painful  to  the  ear  than  the  most  excruciating  fine 
music  that  I  ever  endured. 

The  Bedouin  women  are  not  treasured  up  like  the  wives  and 
daughters  of  other  Orientals,  and  indeed  they  seemed  almost 
entirely  free  from  the  restraints  imposed  by  jealousy  ;  the  feint 
which  they  made  of  concealing  their  faces  from  me  was  always 
slight ;  they  never,  I  think,  wore  the  yashmack  properly  fixed  ; 
when  they  first  saw  me,  they  used  to  hold  up  a  part  of  their 
drapery  with  one  hand  across  their  faces,  but  they  seldom  perse- 
vered very  steadily  in  subjecting  me  to  this  privation.  Unhappy 
beings  !  they  were  sadly  plain.  The  awful  haggardness  which 

*  Milnes  cleverly  goes  to  the  French  for  the  exact  word  which  conveys 
the  impression  produced  by  the  voice  of  the  Arabs,  and  calls  them  "  un 
peuple  criard." 


138  EOTHEN.  [CHAP.  XVH. 


gave  something  of  character  to  the  faces  of  the  men,  was  sheer 
ugliness  in  the  poor  women.  It  is  a  great  shame,  but  the  truth 
is  that  except  when  we  refer  to  the  beautiful  devotion  of  the 
mother  to  her  child,  all  the  fine  things  we  say  and  think  about 
woman,  apply  only  to  those  who  are  tolerably  good-looking  or 
graceful.  These  Arab  women  were  so  plain  and  clumsy  that 
they  seemed  to  me  to  be  fit  for  nothing  but  another  and  a  better 
world.  They  may  have  been  good  women  enough,  so  far  as 
relates  to  the  exercise  of  the  minor  virtues,  but  they  had  so 
grossly  neglected  the  prime  duty  of  looking  pretty  in  this  tran- 
sitory life,  that  I  could  not  at  all  forgive  them ;  they  seemed  to 
feel  the  weight  of  their  guilt  and  to  be  truly  and  humbly  peni- 
tent. I  had  the  complete  command  of  their  affections,  for  at  any 
moment  I  could  make  their  young  hearts  bound,  and  their  old 
hearts  jump,  by  offering  a  handful  of  tobacco,  and  yet,  believe 
me,  it  was  not  in  the  first  soiree  that  my  store  of  Latakaga  was 
exhausted ! 

The  Bedouin  women  have  no  religion  ;  this  is  partly  the  cause 
of  their  clumsiness  ;  perhaps,  if  from  Christian  girls  they  would 
learn  how  to  pray,  their  souls  might  become  more  gentle,  and 
their  limbs  be  clothed  with  grace. 

You  who  are  going  into  their  country,  have  a  direct  personal 
interest  in  knowing  something  about  "Arab  hospitality;"  but 
the  deuce  of  it  is,  that  the  poor  fellows  with  whom  I  have  hap- 
pened to  pitch  my  tent  were  scarcely  ever  in  a  condition  to  exer- 
cise that  magnanimous  virtue  with  much  eclat ;  indeed  Mysseri's 
canteen  generally  enabled  me  to  outdo  my  hosts  in  the  matter  of 
entertainment.  They  were  always  courteous,  however,  and 
were  never  backward  in  offering  me  the  "youart,"  or  curds  and 
whey,  which  is  the  principal  delicacy  to  be  found  amongst  the 
wandering  tribes. 

Practically,  I  think,  Childe  Harold  would  have  found  it  a 
dreadful  bore  to  make  "  the  desert  his  dwelling-place,"  for  at 
all  events  if  he  adopted  the  life  of  the  Arabs,  he  would  have 
tasted  no  solitude.  The  tents  are  partitioned,  not  so  as  to  divide 
the  Childe  and  the  "  fair  spirit,"  who  is  his  "  minister,"  from 
the  rest  of  the  world,  but  so  as  to  separate  the  twenty  or  thirty 
brown  men  that  sit  screaming  in  the  one  compartment,  from  the 


CHAP,  xvii.]  THE  DESERT. 


fifty  or  sixty  brown  women  and  children  that  scream  and  squeak 
in  the  other.  If  you  adopt  the  Arab  life  for  the  sake  of  seclu- 
sion, you  will  be  horribly  disappointed,  for  you  will  find  your- 
self  in  perpetual  contact  with  a  mass  of  hot  fellow-creatures. 
It  is  true  that  all  who  are  inmates  of  the  same  tent  are  related 
to  each  other,  but  I  am  not  quite  sure  that  that  circumstance 
adds  much  to  the  charm  of  such  a  life.  At  all  events  before 
you  finally  determine  to  become  an  Arab,  try  a  gentle  experi- 
ment ;  take  one  of  those  small,  shabby  houses  in  May  Fair,  and 
shut  yourself  up  in  it  with  forty  or  fifty  shrill  cousins  for  a 
couple  of  weeks  in  July. 

In  passing  the  Desert  you  will  find  your  Arabs  wanting  to 
start  and  to  rest  at  all  sorts  of  odd  times ;  they  like,  for  in- 
stance,  to  be  off  at  one  in  the  morning,  and  to  rest  during  the 
whole  of  the  afternoon  ;  you  must  not  give  way  to  their  wishes 
in  this  respect ;  I  tried  their  plan  once,  and  found  it  very 
harassing  and  unwholesome.  An  ordinary  tent  can  give  you 
very  little  protection  against  heat,  for  the  fire  strikes  fiercely 
through  single  canvas,  and  you  soon  find  that  whilst  you  lie 
crouching,  and  striving  to  hide  yourself  from  the  blazing  face 
of  the  sun,  his  power  is  harder  to  bear  than  it  is  where  you 
boldly  defy  him  from  the  airy  heights  of  your  camel. 

It  had  been  arranged  with  my  Arabs,  that  they  were  to  bring 
with  them  all  the  food  which  they  would  want  for  themselves 
during  the  passage  of  the  Desert,  but  as  we  rested  at  the  end  of 
the  first  day's  journey,  by  the  side  of  an  Arab  encampment, 
my  camel-men  found  all  that  they  required  for  that  night  in  the 
tents  of  their  own  brethren.  On  the  evening  of  the  second  day, 
however,  just  before  we  encamped  for  the  night,  my  four  Arabs 
came  to  Dthemetri,  and  formally  announced  that  they  had  not 
brought  with  them  one  atom  of  food,  and  that  they  looked 
entirely  to  my  supplies  for  their  daily  bread.  This  was  awk- 
ward intelligence  ;  we  were  now  just  two  days  deep  in  the 
Desert,  and  I  had  brought  with  me  no  more  bread  than  might 
be  reasonably  required  for  myself,  and  my  European  atten- 
dants :  I  believed  at  the  moment  (for  it  seemed  likely  enough) 
that  the  men  had  really  mistaken  the  terms  of  the  arrangement, 
and  feeling  that  the  bore  of  being  put  upon  half  rations  would 


EOTHEN.  [CHAP.  XVH. 


bo  a  less  evil  (and  even  to  myself  a  less  inconvenience)  than 
the  starvation  of  my  Arabs,  I  at  once  told  Dthemetri  to  assure 
them  that  my  bread  should  be  equally  shared  with  all.  Dthe- 
metri, however,  did  not  approve  of  this  concession  ;  he  assured 
me  quite  positively  that  the  Arabs  thoroughly  understood  the 
agreement,  and  that  if  they  were  now  without  food,  they  had 
wilfully  brought  themselves  into  this  strait,  for  the  wretched 
purpose  of  bettering  their  bargain,  by  the  value  of  a  few  paras' 
worth  of  bread.  This  suggestion  made  me  look  at  the  affair  in 
a  new  light ;  I  should  have  been  glad  enough  to  put  up  with 
the  slight  privation  to  which  my  concession  would  subject  me, 
and  could  have  borne  to  witness  the  semi-starvation  of  poor 
Dthemetri  with  a  fine,  philosophical  calm,  but  it  seemed  to  me 
that  the  scheme,  if  scheme  it  were,  had  something  of  audacity 
iu  it,  and  was  well  enough  calculated  to  try  the  extent  of  my 
softness  ;  I  well  knew  the  danger  of  allowing  such  a  trial  to 
result  in  a  conclusion  that  I  was  one  who  might  be  easily 
managed ;  and  therefore,  after  thoroughly  satisfying  myself 
from  Dthemetri's  clear  and  repeated  assertions,  that  the  Arabs 
had  really  understood  the  arrangement,  I  determined  that  they 
should  not  now  violate  it  by  taking  advantage  of  my  position  in 
the  midst  of  their  big  desert,  so  I  desired  Dthemetri  to  tell  them 
that  they  should  touch  no  bread  of  mine.  We  stopped,  and  the 
tent  was  pitched  ;  the  Arabs  came  to  me,  and  prayed  loudly 
for  bread  ;  I  refused  them. 

"  Then  we  die  !" 

"  God's  will  be  done." 

I  gave  the  Arabs  to  understand,  that  I  regretted  their  perish- 
ing by  hunger,  but  that  I  should  bear  this  calmly,  like  any 
other  misfortune  not  my  own — that  in  short  I  was  happily 
resigned  to  their  fate.  The  men  would  have  talked  a  great 
deal,  but  they  were  under  the  disadvantage  of  addressing  me 
through  a  hostile  interpreter  ;  they  looked  hard  upon  my  face, 
but  they  found  no  hope  there,  so  at  last  they  retired,  as  they 
pretended,  to  lay  them  down,  and  die. 

In  about  ten  minutes  from  this  time,  I  found  that  the  Arabs 
were  busily  cooking  their  bread  !  Their  pretence  of  having 
brought  no  food  was  false,  and  was  only  invented  for  the  pur- 


CHAP,  xvii.]  THE  DESERT. 


pose  of  saving  it.  They  had  a  good  bag  of  meal  which  they 
had  contrived  to  stew  away  under  the  baggage,  upon  one  of  the 
camels,  in  such  a  way  as  to  escape  notice.  In  Europe  the 
detection  of  a  scheme  like  this  would  have  occasioned  a  dis- 
agreeable feeling  between  the  master  and  the  delinquent,  but 
you  would  no  more  recoil  from  an  Oriental,  on  account  of  a 
matter  of  this  sort,  than  in  England  you  would  reject  a  horse 
that  had  tried,  and  failed  to  throw  you.  Indeed  I  felt  quite 
good-humoredly  towards  my  Arabs,  because  they  had  so  wo- 
fully  failed  in  their  wretched  attempt,  and  because,  as  it  turned 
out,  I  had  done  what  was  right ;  they  too,  poor  fellows,  evidently 
began  to  like  me  immensely,  on  account  of  the  hard-heartedness 
which  had  enabled  me  to  baffle  their  scheme. 

The  Arabs  adhere  to  those  ancestral  principles  of  bread- 
baking  which  have  been  sanctioned  by  the  experience  of  ages. 
The  very  first  baker  of  bread  that  ever  lived,  must  have  done 
his  work  exactly  as  the  Arab  does  at  this  day.  He  takes  some 
meal  and  holds  it  out  in  the  hollow  of  his  hands,  whilst  his 
comrade  pours  over  it  a  few  drops  of  water ;  he  then  mashes  up 
the  moistened  flour  into  a  paste,  which  he  pulls  into  small 
pieces,  and  thrusts  into  the  embers  ;  his  way  of  baking  exactly 
resembles  the  craft  or  mystery  of  roasting  chestnuts,  as  practised 
by  children  ;  there  is  the  same  prudence  and  circumspection  in 
choosing  a  good  berth  for  the  morsel — the  same  enterprise,  and 
self-sacrificing  valor,  in  pulling  it  out  with  the  fingers. 

The  manner  of  my  daily  march  was  this.  At  about  an  hour 
before  dawn,  I  rose,  and  made  the  most  of  about  a  pint  of  water 
which  I  allowed  myself  for  washing.  Then  I  breakfasted  upon 
tea,  and  bread.  As  soon  as  the  beasts  were  loaded,  I  mounted 
my  camel,  and  pressed  forward ;  my  poor  Arabs  being  on  foot 
would  sometimes  moan  with  fatigue,  and  pray  for  rest,  but  I  was 
anxious  to  enable  them  to  perform  their  contract  for  bringing 
me  to  Cairo  within  the  stipulated  time,  and  I  did  not  therefore 
allow  a  halt  until  the  evening  came.  About  mid-day,  or  soon 
after,  Mysseri  used  to  bring  up  his  camel  alongside  of  mine,  and 
supply  me  with  a  piece  of  bread  softened  in  water  (for  it  was 
dried  hard  like  board),  and  also  (as  long  as  it  lasted)  with  a 
piece  of  the  tongue  ;  after  this  there  came  into  my  hand  (how 


142  EOTHEN.  [CHAP.  xvii. 

well  I  remember  it !)  the  little  tin  cup  half  filled  with  wine  and 
water. 

As  long  as  you  are  journeying  in  the  interior  of  the  Desert 
you  have  no  particular  point  to  make  for  as  your  resting-place. 
The  endless  sands  yield  nothing  but  small  stunted  shrubs — even 
these  fail  after  the  first  two  or  three  days,  and  from  that  time 
you  pass  over  broad  plains — you  pass  over  newly  reared  hills — 
you  pass  through  valleys  that  the  storm  of  the  last  week  has 
dug,  and  the  hills  and  the  valleys  are  sand,  sand,  sand,  still 
sand,  and  only  sand,  and  sand,  and  sand  again.  The  earth  is 
so  samely,  that  your  eyes  turn  towards  heaven — towards  heaven, 
I  mean,  in  the  sense  of  sky.  You  look  to  the  Sun,  for  he  is  your 
task-master,  and  by  him  you  know  the  measure  of  the  work  that 
you  have  done,  and  the  measure  of  the  work  that  remains  for 
you  to  do ;  He  comes  when  you  strike  your  tent  in  the  early 
morning,  and  then,  for  the  first  hour  of  the  day,  as  you  move 
forward  on  your  camel,  he  stands  at  your  near  side,  and  makes 
you  know  that  the  whole  day's  toil  is  before  you — then  for  a 
while  and  a  long  while  you  see  him  no  more,  for  you  are  veiled, 
and  shrouded,  and  dare  not  look  upon  the  greatness  of  his  glory, 
but  you  know  where  he  strides  over  head,  by  the  touch  of  his 
flaming  sword.  No  words  are  spoken,  but  your  Arabs  moan, 
your  camels  sigh,  your  skin  glows,  your  shoulders  ache,  and  for 
sights  you  see  the  pattern  and  the  web  of  the  silk  that  veils 
your  eyes,  and  the  glare  of  the  outer  light.  Time  labors  on — 
your  skin  glows,  and  your  shoulders  ache,  your  Arabs  moan, 
your  camels  sigh,  and  you  see  the  same  pattern  in  the  silk, 
and  the  same  glare  of  light  beyond,  but  conquering  Time 
marches  on,  and  by  and  by  the  descending  Sun  has  compassed 
the  Heaven,  and  now  softly  touches  your  right  arm,  and  throws 
your  lank  shadow  over  the  sand,  right  along  on  the  way  for 
Persia  ;  then  again  you  look  upon  his  face,  for  his  power  is 
all  veiled  in  his  beauty,  and  the  redness  of  flames  has  become 
the  redness  of  roses — the  fair,  wavy  cloud  that  fled  in  the  morn- 
ing now  comes  to  his  sight  once  more — comes  blushing,  yet  still 
comes  on— comes  burning  with  blushes,  yet  hastens,  and  clings 
to  his  side. 

Then  arrives  your  time  for  resting.     The  world  about  you  is 


CHAP,  xvii.]  THE  DESERT.  143 

all  your  own,  and  there,  where  you  will,  you  pitch  your  solitary 
tent ;  there  is  no  living  thing  to  dispute  your  choice.  When 
at  last  the  spot  had  been  fixed  upon,  and  we  cams  to  a  halt,  one 
of  the  Arabs  would  touch  the  chest  of  my  camel,  and  utter  at 
the  same  time  a  peculiar  gurgling  sound  ;  the  beast  instantly 
understood,  and  obeyed  the  sign,  and  slowly  sunk  under  me  till 
she  brought  her  body  to  a  level  with  the  ground  ;  then  gladly 
enough  I  alighted ;  the  rest  of  the  camels  were  unloaded,  and 
turned  loose  to  browse  upon  the  shrubs  of  the  Desert,  where 
shrubs  there  were,  or  where  these  failed,  to  wait  for  the  small 
quantity  of  food  which  was  allowed  them  out  of  our  stores. 

My  servants,  helped  by  the  Arabs,  busied  themselves  in 
pitching  the  tent  and  kindling  the  fire.  Whilst  this  was  doing  I 
used  to  walk  away  towards  the  East,  confiding  in  the  print  of  my 
foot  as  a  guide  for  my  return.  Apart  from  the  cheering  voices 
of  my  attendants  I  could  better  know  and  feel  the  loneliness  of 
the  Desert.  The  influence  of  such  scenes,  however,  was  not  of 
a  softening  kind,  but  filled  me  rather  with  a  sort  of  childish 
exultation  in  the  self-sufficiency  which  enabled  me  to  stand  thus 
alone  in  the  wilderness  of  Asia — a  short-lived  pride,  for  wher- 
ever man  wanders,  he  still  remains  tethered  by  the  chain  that 
links  him  to  his  kind  ;  and  so  when  the  night  closed  round  me, 
I  began  to  return — to  return  as  it  were  to  my  own  gate. 
Reaching  at  last  some  high  ground,  I  could  see,  and  see  with 
delight,  the  fire  of  our  small  encampment,  and  when,  at  last, 
I  regained  the  spot,  it  seemed  to  me  a  very  home  that  had  sprung 
up  for  me  in  the  midst  of  these  solitudes.  My  Arabs  were  busy 
with  their  bread, — Mysseri  rattling  tea-cups, — the  little  kettle 
with  her  odd,  old-maidish  looks  sat  humming  away  old  songs 
about  England,  and  two  or  three  yards  from  the  fire  my  tent 
stood  prim  and  tight  with  open  portal,  and  with  welcoming  look, 
like  "the  old  arm  chair"  of  our  Lyrist's  "  sweet  Lady  Anne." 

At  ihe  beginning  of  my  journey,  the  night  breeze  blew  coldly  ; 
when  that  happened,  the  dry  sand  was  heaped  up  outside  round 
the  skirts  of  the  tent,  and  so  the  Wind  that  everywhere  else 
could  sweep  as  he  listed  along  those  dreary  plains  was  forced  to 
turn  aside  in  his  course,  and  make  way,  as  he  ought,  for  the 
Englishman.  Then  within  my  tent,  there  were  heaps  of  luxu- 


144  EOTHEN.  [CHAP.  xvn. 

ries, — dining  rooms,  dressing  rooms, — libraries,  bed  rooms, 
drawing  rooms,  oratories,  all  crowded  in  the  space  of  a  hearth 
rug.  The  first  night,  I  remember,  with  my  books,  and  maps 
about  me,  I  wanted  light, — they  brought'me  a  taper,  and  imme- 
diately from  out  of  the  silent  Desert  there  rushed  in  a  flood  of  life, 
unseen  before.  Monsters  of  moths  of  all  shapes  and  hues,  that 
never  before  perhaps  had  looked  upon  the  shining  of  a  flame, 
now  madly  thronged  into  my  tent,  and  dashed  through  the  fire 
of  the  candle  till  they  fairly  extinguished  it  with  their  burning 
limbs.  Those  who  had  failed  in  attaining  this  martyrdom,  sud- 
denly became  serious,  and  clung  despondingly  to  the  canvas. 

By  and  by  there  was  brought  to  me  the  fragrant  tea,  and  big 
masses  of  scorched  and  scorching  toast,  that  minded  me  of  old 
Eton  days,  and  the  butter  that  had  come  all  the  way  to  me  in  this 
Desert  of  Asia,  from  out  of  that  poor,  dear,  starving  Ireland.  I 
feasted  like  a  King, — like  four  Kings, — like  a  boy  in  the  fourth 
form. 

When  the  cold,  sullen  morning  dawned,  and  my  people  began 
to  load  the  camels,  I  always  felt  loath  to  give  back  to  the  waste 
this  little  spot  of  ground  that  had  glowed  for  a  while  with  the 
cheerfulness  of  a  human  dwelling.  One  by  one  the  cloaks,  the 
saddles,  the  baggage,  the  hundred  things  that  strewed  the  ground, 
and  made  it  look  so  familiar — all  these  were  taken  away,  and 
laid  upon  the  camels.  A  speck  in  the  broad  tracts  of  Asia 
remained  still  impressed  with  the  mark  of  patent  portmanteaus, 
and  the  heels  of  London  boots  ;  the  embers  of  the  fire  lay  black 
and  cold  upon  the  sand,  and  these  were  the  signs  we  left. 

My  tent  was  spared  to  the  last,  but  when  all  else  was  ready  for 
the  start,  then  came  its  fall ;  the  pegs  were  drawn,  the  canvas 
shivered,  and  in  less  than  a  minute  there  was  nothing  that 
remained  of  my  genial  home  but  only  a  pole  and  a  bundle. 
The  encroaching  Englishman  was  off,  and  instant,  upon  the  fall 
of  the  canvas,  like  an  owner,  who  had  waited,  and  watched,  the 
Genius  of  the  Desert  stalked  in. 

To  servants,  as  I  suppose  to  any  other  Europeans  not  much 
accustomed  to  amuse  themselves  by  fancy,  or  memory,  it  often 
happens  that  after  a  few  days'  journeying,  the  loneliness  of  the 
desert  will  become  frightfully  oppressive.  Upon  my  poor  fel- 


CHAP,  xvn.]  THE  DESERT.  145 

lows  the  access  of  melancholy  came  heavy,  and  all  at  once,  as  a 
blow  from  above  ;  they  bent  their  necks,  and  bore  it  as  best  they 
could,  but  their  joy  was  great  on  the  fifth  day,  when  we  came  to 
an  Oasis  called  Gatieth,  for  here  we  found  encamped  a  caravan 
(that  is  an  assemblage  of  travellers)  from  Cairo.  The  Orientals 
living  in  cities,  never  pass  the  Desert,  except  in  this  way  ;  many 
will  wait  for  weeks,  and  even  for  months,  until  a  sufficient  num. 
ber  of  persons  can  be  found  ready  to  undertake  the  journey  at 
the  same  time — until  the  flock  of  sheep  is  big  enough  to  fancy 
itself  a  match  for  wolves.  They  could  not,  I  think,  really 
secure  themselves  against  any  serious  danger  by  this  contri- 
vance, for  though  they  have  arms,  they  are  so  little  accustomed 
to  use  them,  and  so  utterly  unorganized,  that  they  never  could 
make  good  their  resistance  to  robbers  of  the  slightest  respectability. 
It  is  not  of  the  Bedouins  that  such  travellers  are  afraid,  for  the 
safe-conduct  granted  by  the  Chief  of  the  ruling  tribe  is  never,  I 
believe,  violated,  but  it  is  said  that  there  are  deserters  and 
scamps  of  various  sorts  who  hover  about  the  skirts  of  the  Desert, 
particularly  on  the  Cairo  side,  and  are  anxious  to  succeed  to  the 
property  of  any  poor  devils  whom  they  may  find  more  weak 
and  defenceless  than  themselves. 

These  people  from  Cairo  professed  to  be  amazed  at  the  ludi- 
crous disproportion  between  their  numerical  forces  and  mine. 
They  could  not  understand,  and  they  wanted  to  know  by  what 
strange  privilege  it  is  that  an  Englishman  with  a  brace  of  pistols 
and  a  couple  of  servants  rides  safely  across  the  Desert,  whilst 
they,  the  natives  of  the  neighboring  cities,  are  forced  to  travel  in 
troops,  or  rather  in  herds.  One  of  them  got  a  few  minutes  of 
private  conversation  with  Dthemetri,  and  ventured  to  ask  him 
anxiously,  whether  the  English  did  not  travel  under  the  protec- 
tion of  Evil  Demons.  I  had  previously  known  (from  Methley 
I  think,  who  travelled  in  Persia)  that  this  notion,  so  conducive 
to  the  safety  of  our  countrymen,  is  generally  prevalent  among 
Orientals ;  it  owes  its  origin  partly  to  the  strong  wilfulness  of 
the  English  gentleman  (which  not  being  backed  by  any  visible 
authority,  either  civil  or  military,  seems  perfectly  superhuman 
to  the  soft  Asiatic),  but  partly  too  to  the  magic  of  the  Banking 
system,  by  force  of  which  the  wealthy  traveller  will  make  all 
11 


146  EOTHEN.  [CHAP.  xvn. 

his  journeys,  without  carrying  a  handful  of  coin,  and  yet  when 
he  arrives  at  a  city,  will  rain  down  showers  of  gold.  The 
theory  is  that  the  English  traveller  has  committed  some  sin 
against  God  and  his  conscience,  and  that  for  this,  the  Evil 
Spirit  has  hold  of  him  and  drives  him  from  his  home,  like  a  vic- 
tim of  the  old  Grecian  Furies,  and  forces  him  to  travel  over 
countries  far  and  strange,  and  most  chiefly  over  Deserts  and 
desolate  places,  and  to  stand  upon  the  sites  of  cities  that  once 
were,  and  are  now  no  more,  and  to  grope  among  the  tombs  of 
dead  men.  Often  enough  there  is  something  of  truth  in  this 
notion  ;  often  enough  the  wandering  Englishman  is  guilty  (if 
guilt  it  be)  of  some  pride,  or  ambition,  big  or  small,  imperial 
or  parochial,  which  being  offended  has  made  the  lone  places 
more  tolerable  than  ball  rooms  to  him,  a  sinner. 

I  can  understand  the  sort  of  amazement  of  the  Orientals  at 
the  scantiness  of  the  retinue  with  which  an  Englishman  passes 
the  Desert,  for  I  was  somewhat  struck  myself  when  I  saw  one 
of  my  countrymen  making  his  way  across  the  wilderness  in 
this  simple  style.  At  first  there  was  a  mere  moving  speck  in 
the  horizon ;  my  party,  of  course,  became  all  alive  with  excite- 
ment, and  there  were  many  surmises ;  soon  it  appeared  that 
three  laden  camels  were  approaching,  and  that  two  of  them 
carried  riders ;  in  a  little  while  we  saw  that  one  of  the  riders 
wore  the  European  dress,  and  at  last  the  travellers  were  pro- 
nounced to  be  an  English  gentleman  and  his  servant ;  by  their 
side  there  were  a  couple,  I  think,  of  Arabs  on  foot,  and  this  was 
the  whole  party. 

You, — you  love  sailing, — in  returning  from  a  cruise  to  the 
English  coast,  you  see  often  enough  a  fisherman's  humble  boat 
far  away  from  all  shores,  with  an  ugly  black  sky  above,  and 
an  angry  sea  beneath, — you  watch  the  grisly  old  man  at  the 
helm,  carrying  his  craft  with  strange  skill  through  the  turmoil 
of  waters,  and  the  boy,  supple-limbed,  yet  weather-worn  al- 
ready, and  with  steady  eyes  that  look  through  the  blast, — you 
see  him  understanding  commandments  from  the  jerk  of  his 
father's  white  eyebrow, — now  belaying,  and  now  letting  go, — 
now  scrunching  himself  down  into  mere  ballast,  or  baling  out 
Death  with  a  pipkin.  Stale  enough  is  the  sight,  and  yet  when 


CHAP,  xvii.]  THE  DESERT.  147 

I  see  it  I  always  stare  anew,  and  with  a  kind  of  Titanic  exulta- 
tion, because  that  a  poor  boat  with  the  brain  of  a  man,  and  the 
hands  of  a  boy  on  board,  can  match  herself  so  bravely  against 
black  Heaven  and  Ocean  ;  well,  so  when  you  have  travelled 
for  days  and  days,  over  an  Eastern  Desert,  without  meeting  the 
likeness  of  a  human  being,  and  at  last  see  an  English  shooting, 
jacket  and  his  servant  come  listlessly  slouching  along  from  out 
the  forward  horizon,  you  stare  at  the  wide  unproportion  between 
this  slender  company,  and  the  boundless  plains  of  sand  through 
which  they  are  keeping  their  way. 

This  Englishman,  as  I  afterwards  found,  was  a  military  man 
returning  to  his  country  from  India,  and  crossing  the  Desert  at  this 
part  in  order  to  go  through  Palestine.  As  for  me,  I  had  come  pretty 
straight  from  England,  and  so  here  we  met  in  the  wilderness  at 
about  half  way  from  our  respective  starting  points.  As  we  ap- 
proached each  other  it  became  with  me  a  question  whether  we  / 
should  speak  ;  I  thought  it  likely  that  the  stranger  would  accost 
me,  and  in  the  event  of  his  doing  so  I  was  quite  ready  to  be  as 
sociable  and  chatty  as  I  could  be,  according  to  my  nature,  but 
still  I  could  not  think  of  anything  in  particular  that  I  had  to 
say  to  him ;  of  course  among  civilized  people  the  not  having 
anything  to  say  is  no  excuse  at  all  for  not  speaking,  but  I  was 
shy  and  indolent,  and  I  felt  no  great  wish  to  stop  and  talk  like 
a  morning  visitor,  in  the  midst  of  those  broad  solitudes.  The  ' 
traveller,  perhaps,  felt  as  I  did,  for  except  that  we  lifted  our  ( 
hands  to  our  caps  and  waved  our  arms  in  courtesy,  we  passed 
each  other  as  if  we  had  passed  in  Bond  Street.  Our  attendants, 
however,  were  not  to  be  cheated  of  the  delight  that  they  felt  in 
speaking  to  new  listeners,  and  hearing  fresh  voices  once  more. 
The  masters,  therefore,  had  no  sooner  passed  each  other  than 
their  respective  servants  quietly  stopped  and  entered  into  con- 
versation. As  soon  as  my  camel  found  her  companions  were 
not  following  her,  she  caught  the  social  feeling  and  refused  to 
go  on.  I  felt  the  absurdity  of  the  situation  and  determined  to 
accost  the  stranger,  if  only  to  avoid  the  awkwardness  of  re- 
maining stuck  fast  in  the  Desert,  whilst  our  servants  were  amus- 
ing themselves.  When  with  this  intent  I  turned  round  my 
camel,  I  found  that  the  gallant  officer  who  had  passed  me  by 


148  EOTHEN.  [CHAP.  xvn. 

about  thirty  or  forty  yards,  was  exactly  in  the  same  predica- 
ment as  myself.  I  put  my  now  willing  camel  in  motion  and 
rode  up  towards  the  stranger,  who,  seeing  this,  followed  my  ex- 
ample and  came  forward  to  meet  me.  He  was  the  first  to 
speak  ;  he  was  much  too  courteous  to  address  me  as  if  he  ad- 
.mitted  of  the  possibility  of  my  wishing  to  accost  him  from  any 
feeling  of  mere  sociability,  or  civilian-like  love  of  vain  talk  ; 
•on  the  contrary,  he  at  once  attributed  my  advances  to  a  lauda- 
ble wish  of  acquiring  statistical  information,  and  accordingly, 
when  we  got  within  speaking  distance,  he  said,  "  I  dare  say  you 
wish  to  know  how  the  Plague  is  going  on  at  Cairo  ?"  and  then 
he  went  on  to  say,  he  regretted  that  his  information  did  not  enable 
him  to  give  me  in  numbers  a  perfectly  accurate  statement  of  the 
daily  deaths  :  he  afterwards  talked  pleasantly  enough  upon  other 
and  less  ghastly  subjects.  I  thought  him  manly  and  intelligent ; 
a  worthy  one  of  the  few  thousand  strong  Englishmen  to  whom 
the  Empire  of  India  is  committed. 

The  night  after  the  meeting  with  the  people  of  the  caravan, 
Dthemetri,  alarmed  by  their  warnings,  took  upon  himself  to 
keep  watch  all  night  in  the  tent ;  no  robbers  came  except  a 
jackal  that  poked  his  nose  into  my  tent  from  some  motive  of  ra- 
tional curiosity  ;  Dthemetri  did  not  shoot  him  for  fear  of  wak- 
ing me.  These  brutes  swarm  in  every  part  of  Syria ;  and 
there  were  many  of  them  even  in  the  midst  of  the  void  sands, 
that  would  seem  to  give  such  poor  promise  of  food  ;  I  can  hardly 
tell  what  prey  they  could  be  hoping  for,  unless  it  were  that  they 
might  find,  now  and  then,  the  carcase  of  some  camel  that  had 
died  on  the  journey.  They  do  not  marshal  themselves  into 
great  packs  like  the  wild  dogs  of  Eastern  cities,  but  follow  their 
prey  in  families,  like  the  place-hunters  of  Europe  ;  their  voices 
are  frightfully  like  to  the  shouts  and  cries  of  human  beings  ;  if 
you  lie  awake  in  your  tent  at  night,  you  are  almost  continually 
hearing  some  hungry  family  as  it  sweeps  along  in  full  cry  ;  you 
hear  the  exulting  scream  with  which  the  sagacious  dam  first 
winds  the  carrion,  and  the  shrill  response  of  the  unanimous 
cubs  as  they  snuff  the  tainted  air — "  Wha  !  wha  !  wha  !  wha  ! 
wha  !  wha ! — Whose  gift  is  it  in,  mamma  ?" 

Once,  during  this  passage,  my  Arabs  lost  their  way  among  the 


CHAP,  xvii.]  THE  DESERT.  149 

hills  of  loose  sand  that  surrounded  us,  but  after  a  while  we  were 
lucky  enough  to  recover  our  right  line  of  march.  The  same 
day  we  fell  in  with  a  Sheik,  the  head  of  a  family,  that  actually 
dwells  at  no  great  distance  from  this  part  of  the  desert  during 
nine  months  of  the  year.  The  man  carried  a  match-lock,  of 
which  he  was  very  proud  ;  we  stopped  and  sat  down,  and  rested 
awhile  for  the  sake  of  a  little  talk;  there  was  much  that  I 
should  have  liked  to  ask  this  man,  but  he  could  not  understand 
Dthemetri's  language,  and  the  process  of  getting  at  his  know- 
ledge by  double  interpretation  through  my  Arabs  was  unsatis- 
factory. I  discovered,  however  (and  my  Arabs  knew  of  that 
fact),  that  this  man  and  his  family  lived  habitually  for  nine 
months  of  the  year,  without  touching  or  seeing  either  bread  or 
water.  The  stunted  shrub  growing  at  intervals  through  the  sand 
in  this  part  of  the  desert,  is  fed  by  the  dews  which  fall  at  night, 
and  enables  the  camel  mares  to  yield  a  little  milk,  which  fur- 
nishes the  sole  food  and  drink  of  their  owner  and  his  people. 
During  the  other  three  months  (the  hottest  of  the  months,  I  sup- 
pose) even  this  resource  fails,  and  then  the  Sheik  and  his  people 
are  forced  to  pass  into  another  district.  You  would  ask  me  why 
the  man  should  not  remain  always  in  that  district  which  supplies 
him  with  water  during  three  months  of  the  year,  but  I  don't 
know  enough  of  Arab  politics  to  answer  the  question.  The 
Sheik  was  not  a  good  specimen  of  the  effect  produced  by  the  diet 
to  which  he  is  subjected ;  he  was  very  small,  very  spare,  and 
sadly  shrivelled — a  poor,  over-roasted  snipe,  a  mere  cinder  of  a 
man ;  I  made  him  sit  down  by  my  side,  and  gave  him  a  piece  of 
bread  and  a  cup  of  water  from  out  of  my  goat-skins.  This 
was  not  very  tempting  drink  to  look  at,  for  it  had  become  turbid, 
and  was  deeply  reddened  by  some  coloring  matter  contained  in 
the  skins,  but  it  kept  its  sweetness  and  tasted  like  a  strong  de- 
coction of  Russia  leather.  The  Sheik  sipped  this,  drop  by  drop, 
with  ineffable  relish,  and  rolled  his  eyes  solemnly  round  between 
every  draught,  as  though  the  drink  were  the  drink  of  the  Prophet, 
and  had  come  from  the  seventh  heaven. 

An  inquiry  about  distances  led  to  the  discovery  that  this  Sheik 
had  never  heard  of  the  division  of  time  into  hours  ;  my  Arabs 
themselves,  I  think,  were  rather  surprised  at  this. 


150  EOTHEN.  [CHAP.  xvn. 

About  this  part  of  my  journey,  I  saw  the  likeness  of  a  fresh- 
water lake ;  I  saw,  as  it  seemed,  a  broad  sheet  of  calm  water 
that  stretched  far  and  fair  towards  the  south — stretching  deep 
into  winding  creeks,  and  hemmed  in  by  jutting  promontories,  and 
shelving  smooth  off  towards  the  shallow  side  ;  on  its  bosom  the 
reflected  fire  of  the  sun  lay  playing  and  seeming  to  float  upon 
waters  deep  and  still. 

Though  I  knew  of  the  cheat,  it  was  not  till  the  spongy  foot  of 
my  camel  had  almost  trodden  in  the  seeming  waters,  that  I  could 
undeceive  my  eyes,  for  the  shore  line  was  quite  true  and  natural. 
I  soon  saw  the  cause  of  the  phantasm.  A  sheet  of  water 
heavily  impregnated  with  salts,  had  filled  this  great  hollow  ;  and 
when  dried  up  by  evaporation  had  left  a  white  saline  deposit 
that  exactly  marked  the  space  which  the  waters  had  covered, 
and  thus  sketched  a  true  shore-line.  The  minute  crystals  of 
the  salt  sparkled  in  the  sun,  and  so  looked  like  the  face  of  a  lake 
that  is  calm  and  smooth. 

The  pace  of  the  camel  is  irksome,  and  makes  your  shoulders 
and  loins  ache  from  the  peculiar  way  in  which  you  are  obliged 
to  suit  yourself  to  the  movements  of  the  beast,  but  you  soon  of 
course  become  inured  to  this,  and  after  the  first  two  days  this 
way  of  travelling  became  so  familiar  to  me,  that  (poor  sleeper 
as  I  am)  I  now  and  then  slumbered  for  some  moments  together, 
on  the  back  of  my  camel.  On  the  fifth  day  of  my  journey  the 
air  above  lay  dead,  and  all  the  whole  earth  that  I  could  reach 
with  my  utmost  sight  and  keenest  listening,  was  still  and  life- 
less as  some  dispeopled  and  forgotten  world,  that  rolls  round  and 
round  in  the  heavens,  through  wasted  floods  of  light.  The  sun, 
growing  fiercer  and  fiercer,  shone  down  more  mightily  now  than 
ever  on  me  he  shone  before,  and  as  I  drooped  my  head  under  his 
fire  and  closed  my  eyes  against  the  glare  that  surrounded  me,  I 
slowly  fell  asleep,  for  how  many  minutes  or  moments,  I  cannot 
tell,  but  after  a  while  I  was  gently  awakened  by  a  peal  of  church 
bells — my  native  bells — the  innocent  bells  of  Marlen,  that  never 
before  sent  forth  their  music  beyond  the  Blaygon  hills  !  My 
first  idea  naturally  was,  that  I  still  remained  fast  under  the 
power  of  a  dream.  I  roused  myself  and  drew  aside  the  silk 
that  covered  my  eyes,  and  plunged  my  bare  face  into  the  light. 


CHAP,  xvii.]  THE   DESERT.  151 

Then  at  least  I  was  well  enough  wakened,  but  still  those  old 
Marlen  bells  rung  on,  not  ringing  for  joy,  but  properly,  prosily, 
steadily,  merrily  ringing  "  for  church."  After  a  while  the 
sound  died  away  slowly  j  it  happened  that  neither  I  nor  any  of 
my  party  had  a  watch  by  which  to  measure  the  exact  time  of  its 
lasting,  but  it  seemed  to  be  that  about  ten  minutes  had  passed 
before  the  bells  ceased.  I  attributed  the  effect  to  the  great  heat 
of  the  sun,  the  perfect  dryness  of  the  clear  air  through  which  I 
moved,  and  the  deep  stillness  of  all  around  me  ;  it  seemed  to  me 
that  these  causes,  by  occasioning  a  great  tension,  and  consequent 
susceptibility  of  the  hearing  organs,  had  rendered  them  liable  to 
tingle  under  the  passing  touch  of  some  mere  memory,  that  must 
have  swept  across  my  brain  in  a  moment  of  sleep.  Since  my 
return  to  England  it  has  been  told  me  that  like  sounds  have  been 
heard  at  sea,  and  that  the  sailor  becalmed.under  a  vertical  sun 
in  the  midst  of  the  wide  ocean,  has  listened  in  trembling  wonder 
to  the  chime  of  his  own  village  bells. 

At  this  time  I  kept  a  poor,  shabby  pretence  of  a  journal, 
which  just  enabled  me  to  know  the  day  of  the  month  and  the 
week,  according  to  the  European  calendar,  and  when  in  my  tent 
at  night  I  got  out  my  pocket-book,  I  found  that  the  day  was  Sun- 
day, and  roughly  allowing  for  the  difference  of  time  in  this  lon- 
gitude, I  concluded  that  at  the  moment  of  my  hearing  that 
strange  peal,  the  church-going  bells  of  Marlen  must  have  been 
actually  calling  the  prim  congregation  of  the  parish  to  morning 
prayer.  The  coincidence  amused  me  faintly,  but  I  could  not 
pluck  up  the  least  hope  that  the  effect  which  I  had  experienced 
was  anything  other  than  an  illusion — an  illusion  liable  to  be 
explained  (as  every  illusion  is  in  these  days)  by  some  of  the 
philosophers  who  guess  at  nature's  riddles.  It  would  have  been 
sweeter  to  believe  that  my  kneeling  mother,  by  some  pious 
enchantment,  had  asked,  and  found  this  spell  to  rouse  me  from 
my  scandalous  forgetfulness  of  God's  holy  day,  but  my  fancy 
was  too  weak  to  carry  a  faith  like  that.  Indeed,  the  vale 
through  which  the  bells  of  Marlen  send  their  song  is  a  highly 
respectable  vale,  and  its  people  (save  one,  two,  or  three)  are 
wholly  unaddicted  to  the  practice  of  magical  arts. 

After  the  fifth  day  of  my  journey,  I  no  longer  travelled  over 


EOTHEN.  [CHAP.  xvn. 


shifting  hills,  but  came  upon  a  dead  level — a  dead  level  bed  of 
sand,  quite  hard,  and  studded  with  small  shining  pebbles. 

The  heat  grew  fierce ;  there  was  no  valley  nor  hollow,  nor 
hill,  no  mound,  no  shadow  of  hill  nor  of  mound  by  which  I 
could  mark  the  way  I  was  making.  Hour  by  hour  I  advanced, 
and  saw  no  change — I  was  still  the  very  centre  of  a  round  horizon ; 
hour  by  hour  I  advanced,  and  still  there  was  the  same,  and  the 
same,  and  the  same — the  same  circle  of  flaming  sky — the  same 
circle  of  sand  still  glaring  with  light  and  fire.  Over  all  the 
heaven  above — over  all  the  earth  beneath,  there  was  no  visible 
power  that  could  balk  the  fierce  will  of  the  sun  ;  "  he  rejoiced 
as  a  strong  man  to  run  a  race  :  his  going  forth  was  from  the 
end  of  the  heaven,  and  his  circuit  unto  the  ends  of  it ;  and  there 
was  nothing  hid  from  the  heat  thereof."  From  pole  to  pole,  and 
from  the  East  to  the  West,  he  brandished  his  fiery  sceptre  as 
though  he  had  usurped  all  Heaven  and  Earth.  As  he  bid  the 
soft  Persian  in  ancient  times,  so  now  and  fiercely  too,  he  bid 
me  bow  down  and  worship  him ;  so  now  in  his  pride  he  seemed 
to  command  me  and  say,  "  Thou  shalt  have  none  other  gods 
but  me."  I  was  all  alone  before  him.  There  were  these  two 
pitted  together,  and  face  to  face — the  mighty  sun  for  one,  and 
for  the  other — this  poor,  pale,  solitary  self  of  mine,  that  I 
always  carry  about  with  me. 

But  on  the  eighth  day,  and  before  I  had  yet  turned  away  from 
Jehovah  for  the  glittering  god  of  the  Persians,  there  appeared 
a  dark  line  upon  the  edge  of  the  forward  horizon,  and  soon  the 
line  deepened  into  a  delicate  fringe  that  sparkled  here  and 
there  as  though  it  were  sown  with  diamonds.  There,  then, 
before  me  were  the  gardens  and  the  minarets  of  Egypt,  and  the 
mighty  works  of  the  Nile,  and  I  (the  eternal  Ego  that  I  am  !) — 
I  had  lived  to  see,  and  I  saw  them. 

When  evening  came  I  was  still  within  the  confines  of  the 
desert,  and  my  tent  was  pitched  as  usual,  but  one  of  my  Arabs 
stalked  away  rapidly  towards  the  West  without  telling  me  of 
the  errand  on  which  he  was  bent.  After  a  while  he  returned  ; 
he  had  toiled  on  a  graceful  service  ;  he  had  travelled  all  the 
way  on  to  the  border  of  the  living  world,  and  brought  me  back 
for  token  an  ear  of  rice,  full,  fresh,  and  green. 


CHAP,  xvii.]  THE  DESERT.  L53 

The  next  day  I  entered  upon  Egypt,  and  floated  along  (for  the 
delight  was  as  the  delight  of  bathing)  through  green,  wavy  fields 
of  rice,  and  pastures  fresh  and  plentiful,  and  dived  into  the 
cold  verdure  of  groves  and  gardens,  and  quenched  my  hot  eyes 
in  shade,  as  though  in  deep  rushing  waters. 


<&$&i& 


154  EOTHEN.  [CHAP.  xvm. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

Cairo  and  the  Plague.* 

CAIRO  and  Plague  !  During  the  whole  time  of  my  stay,  the 
Plague  was  so  master  of  the  city,  and  showed  himself  so  star- 
ingly  in  every  street  and  every  alley,  that  I  can't  now  affect  to 
dissociate  the  two  ideas. 

When  coming  from  the  desert,  I  rode  through  a  village  which 
lies  near  to  the  city  on  the  eastern  side,  there  approached  me 
with  busy  face  and  earnest  gestures,  a  personage  in  the  Turkish 
dress ;  his  long  flowing  beard  gave  him  rather  a  majestic  look, 
but  his  briskness  of  manner  and  his  visible  anxiety  to  accost 
me,  seemed  strange  in  an  Oriental.  The  man,  in  fact,  was 
French  or  of  French  origin,  and  his  object  was  to  warn  me  of 
the  Plague  and  prevent  me  from  entering  the  city. 

Arretez-vous,  Monsieur,  je  vous  en  prie — arretez-vous ;  il  ne 
faut  pas  entrer  dans  la  ville  ;  la  Peste  y  rSgne  partout. 

*  There  is  some  semblance  of  bravado  in  my  manner  of  talking  about  the 
Plague.  I  have  been  more  careful  to  describe  the  terrors  of  other  people 
than  my  own.  The  truth  is,  that  during  the  whole  period  of  my  stay  at 
Cairo,  I  remained  thoroughly  impressed  with  a  sense  of  my  danger.  I  may 
almost  say  that  I  lived  in  perpetual  apprehension,  for  even  in  sleep,  as  I 
fancy,  there  remained  with  me  some  faint  notion  of  the  peril  with  which  I 
was  encompassed.  But  Fear  does  not  necessarily  damp  the  spirits ;  on  the 
contrary,  it  will  often  operate  as  an  excitement,  giving  rise  to  unusual  ani- 
mation, and  thus  it  affected  me.  If  I  had  not  been  surrounded  at  this  time 
by  new  faces,  new  scenes,  and  new  sounds,  the  effect  produced  upon  my 
mind  by  one  unceasing  cause  of  alarm,  may  have  been  very  different.  As 
it  was,  the  eagerness  with  which  I  pursued  my  rambles  among  the  wonders 
of  Egypt  was  sharpened  and  increased  by  the  sting  of  the  fear  of  Death. 
Thus  my  account  of  the  matter  plainly  conveys  an  impression  that  I  re- 
mained at  Cairo  without  losing  my  cheerfulness  and  buoyancy  of  spirits. 
And  this  is  the  truth,  but  it  is  also  true,  as  I  have  freely  confessed,  that  my 
sense  of  danger  during  the  whole  period  was  lively  and  continuous. 


CHAP,  xviir.]  CAIRO  AND  THE  PJLAGUE.  155 

Oui,  je  sais,*  mais 

Mais,  Monsieur,  je  dis  la  Peste — la  Peste  ;  c'est  de  LA  PESTE 
qu'il  est  question. 

Oui,  je  sais,  mais 

Mais,  Monsieur,  je  dis  encore  LA  PESTE — LA  PESTE.  Je  vous 
conjure  de  ne  pas  entrer  dans  la  ville — vous  seriez  dans  une 
ville  empestee. 

Oui,  je  sais,  mais 

Mais  Monsieur,  je  dois  done  vous  avertir  tout  bonnement  que 
si  vous  entrez  dans  la  ville,  vous  serez— enfin  vous  serez  COM- 

PROMIS  !f 

Oui,  je  sais,  mais 

The  Frenchman  was  at  last  convinced  that  it  was  vain  to 
reason  with  a  mere  Englishman  who  could  not  understand  what 
it  was  to  be  "compromised."  I  thanked  him  most  sincerely  for 
his  kindly  meant  warning  ;  in  hot  countries  it  is  very  unusual 
indeed  for  a  man  to  go  out  in  the  glare  of  the  sun,  and  give  free 
advice  to  a  stranger. 

When  I  arrived  at  Cairo  I  summoned  Osman  Effendi,  who 
was,  as  I  knew,  the  owner  of  several  houses,  and  would  be  able 
to  provide  me  with  apartments ;  he  had  no  difficulty  in  doing 
this,  for  there  was  not  one  European  traveller  in  Cairo  besides 
myself.  Poor  Osman !  he  met  me  with  a  sorrowful  counte- 
nance, for  the  fear  of  the  Plague  sat  heavily  on  his  soul ;  he 
seemed  as  if  he  felt  that  he  was  doing  wrong  in  lending  me  a 
resting-place,  and  he  betrayed  such  a  listlessness  about  temporal 
matters,  as  one  might  look  for  in  a  man  who  believed  that  his 
days  were  numbered.  He  caught  me,  too,  soon  after  my  arri- 
val, coming  out  from  the  public  baths,:}:  and  from  that  time  for- 

*  Anglice  for  "je  le  sais."  These  answers  of  mine  as  given  above,  are 
not  meant  for  specimens  of  mere  French,  but  of  that  fine,  terse,  nervous, 
Continental  English,  with  which  I  and  my  compatriots  make  our  way 
through  Europe.  This  language,  by  the  bye,  is  one  possessing  great  force 
and  energy,  and  is  not  without  its  literature — a  literature  of  the  very  highest 
order.  Where  will  you  find  more  sturdy  specimens  of  downright,  honest, 
and  noble  English,  than  in  the  Duke  of  Wellington's  "  French  "  despatches  ? 

t  The  import  of  the  word  "  compromised "  when  used  in  reference  to 
contagion,  is  explained  in  page  2. 

%  It  is  said,  that  when  a  Mussulman  finds  himself  attacked  by  the  Plague, 


156  EOTHEN.  [CHAP.  xvm. 

ward  he  was  sadly  afraid  of  me,  for  he  shared  the  opinions  of 
Europeans  with  respect  to  the  effect  of  contagion. 

Osman's  history  is  a  curious  one.  He  was  a  Scotchman 
born,  and  when  very  young,  being  then  a  drummer-boy,  he 
landed  in  Egypt  with  Mackensie  Eraser's  force.  He  was 
taken  prisoner,  and  according  to  Mahometan  custom,  the  alter- 
native of  Death  or  the  Koran  was  offered  to  him ;  he  did  not 
choose  Death,  and  therefore  went  through  the  ceremonies  which 
were  necessary  for  turning  him  into  a  good  Mahometan.  But 
what  amused  me  most  in  his  history  was  this — that  very  soon 
after  having  Embraced  Islam,  he  was  obliged  in  practice  to  be- 
come curious  and  discriminating  in  his  new  faith — to  make  war 
upon  Mahometan  dissenters,  and  follow  the  orthodox  standard  of 
the  Prophet  in  fierce  campaigns  against  the  Wahabees,  who  are 
the  Unitarians  of  the  Mussulman  world.  The  Wahabees  were 
crushed,  and  Osman  returning  home  in  triumph  from  his  holy 
wars,  began  to  flourish  in  the  world  ;  he  acquired  property  and 
became  effendi,  or  gentleman.  At  the  time  of  my  visit  to  Cairo 
he  seemed  to  be  much  respected  by  his  brother  Mahometans,  and 
gave  pledge  of  his  sincere  alienation  from  Christianity  by  keep- 
ing a  couple  of  wives.  He  affected  the  same  sort  of  reserve  in 
mentioning  them  as  is  generally  shown  by  Orientals.  He  invit- 
ed me,  indeed,  to  see  his  hareem,  but  he  made  both  his  wives 
bundle  out  before  I  was  admitted  ;  he  felt,  as  it  seemed  to  me, 
that  neither  of  them  would  bear  criticism,  and  I  think  that  this 
idea,  rather  than  any  motive  of  sincere  jealousy,  induced  him 
to  keep  them  out  of  sight.  The  rooms  of  the  hareem  reminded 
me  of  an  English  nursery,  rather  than  of  a  Mahometan  para- 
dise. One  is  apt  to  judge  of  a  woman  before  one  sees  her,  by 
the  air  of  elegance  or  coarseness  with  which  she  surrounds  her 
home  ;  I  judged  Osman's  wives  by  this  test,  and  condemned  them 
both.  But  the  strangest  feature  in  Osman's  character  was  his 
inextinguishable  nationality.  In  vain  they  had  brought  him 

he  goes  and  takes  a  bath.  The  couches  on  which  the  bathers  recline  would 
carry  infection,  according  to  the  notion  of  the  Europeans.  Whenever, 
therefore,  I  took  the  bath  at  Cairo  (except  the  first  time  of  my  doing  so)  I 
avoided  that  part  of  the  luxury  which  consists  in  being  "  put  up  to  dry  " 
upon  a  kind  of  bed. 


CHAP,  xvni.]  CAIRO  AND  THE  PLAGUE.  157 

over  the  seas  in  early  boyhood — in  vain  had  he  suffered  captivity, 
conversion,  circumcision — in  vain  they  had  passed  him  through 
fire  in  their  Arabian  campaigns — they  could  not  cut  away  or 
burn  out  poor  Osman's  inborn  love  of  all  that  was  Scotch ;  in 
vain  men  called  him  Effendi — in  vain  he  swept  along  in  eastern 
robes — in  vain  the  rival  wives  adorned  his  hareem ;  the  joy  of 
his  heart  still  plainly  lay  in  this,  that  he  had  three  shelves  of 
books,  and  that  the  books  were  thorough-bred  Scotch — the  Edin- 
burgh this — the  Edinburgh  that,  and  above  all,  I  recollect,  he 
prided  himself  upon  the  "  Edinburgh  Cabinet  Library." 

The  fear  of  the  Plague  is  its  forerunner.  It  is  likely  enough 
that  at  the  time  of  my  seeing  poor  Osman,  the  deadly  taint  was 
beginning  to  creep  through  his  veins,  but  it  was  not  till  after  I 
left  Cairo  that  he  was  visibly  stricken.  He  died. 

As  soon  as  I  had  seen  all  that  I  wanted  to  see  in  Cairo,  and 
in  the  neighborhood,  I  wished  to  make  my  escape  from  a  city 
that  lay  under  the  terrible  curse  of  the  Plague,  but  Mysseri  fell 
ill  in  consequence,  I  believe,  of  the  hardships  which  he  had 
been  suffering  in  my  service  ;  after  a  while  he  recovered  suffi- 
ciently to  undertake  a  journey,  but  then  there  was  some  difficul- 
ty in  procuring  beasts  of  burden,  and  it  was  not  till  the  nine- 
teenth day  of  my  sojourn  that  I  quitted  the  city. 

During  all  this  time  the  power  of  the  Plague  was  rapidly  in- 
creasing. When  I  first  arrived  it  was  said  that  the  daily  num- 
ber of  "  accidents  "  by  plague,  out  of  a  population  of  about 
200,000,  did  not  exceed  four  or  five  hundred,  but  before  I  went 
away  the  deaths  were  reckoned  at  twelve  hundred  a  day.  I 
had  no  means  of  knowing  whether  the  numbers  (given  out,  as 
I  believe  they  were,  by  officials)  were  at  all  correct,  but  I  could 
not  help  knowing  that  from  day  to  day  the  number  of  the  dead 
was  increasing.  My  quarters  were  in  a  street  which  was  one 
of  the  chief  thoroughfares  of  the  city.  The  funerals  in  Cairo 
take  place  between  day-break  and  noon,  and  as  I  was  generally 
in  my  rooms  during  this  part  of  the  day,  I  could  form  some 
opinion  as  to  the  briskness  of  the  Plague.  I  don't  mean  this  for 
a  sly  insinuation  that  I  got  up  every  morning  with  the  sun.  It 
was  not  so,  but  the  funerals  of  most  people  in  decent  circum- 
stances at  Cairo  are  attended  by  singers  and  howlers,  and  the 


158  EOTHEN.  [CHAP.  xvin. 

performances  of  these  people  woke  me  in  the  early  morning, 
and  prevented  me  from  remaining  in  ignorance  of  what  was 
going  on  in  the  street  below. 

These  funerals  were  very  simply  conducted.  The  bier  was 
a  shallow  wooden  tray  carried  upon  a  light  and  weak  wooden 
frame.  The  tray  had,  in  general,  no  lid,  but  the  body  was 
more  or  less  hidden  from  view  by  a  shawl  or  scarf.  The  whole 
was  borne  upon  the  shoulders  of  men  who  contrived  to  cut 
along  with  their  burdens  at  a  great  pace.  Two  or  three  singers 
generally  preceded  the  bier;  the  howlers  (who  are  paid  for 
their  vocal  labors)  followed  after,  and  last  of  all  came  such  of 
the  dead  man's  friends  and  relations  as  could  keep  up  with  such 
a  rapid  procession  ;  these,  especially  the  women,  would  get  ter- 
ribly blown,  and  would  straggle  back  into  the  rear  ;  many  were 
fairly  "  beaten  off."  I  never  observed  any  appearance  of 
mourning  in  the  mourners  ;  the  pace  was  too  severe  for  any 
solemn  affectation  of  grief. 

When  first  I  arrived  at  Cairo  the  funerals  that  daily  passed 
under  my  windows  were  many,  but  still  there  were  frequent 
and  long  intervals  without  a  single  howl.  Every  day^  however 
(except  one,  when  I  fancied  I  observed  a  diminution  of  funerals), 
these  intervals  became  less  frequent,  and  shorter,  and  at  last 
the  passing  of  the  howlers  from  morn  to  noon  was  almost  inces- 
sant. I  believe  that  about  one  half  of  the  whole  people  was 
carried  off  by  this  visitation.  The  Orientals,  however,  have 
more  quiet  fortitude  than  Europeans  under  afflictions  of  this 
sort,  and  they  never  allow  the  Plague  to  interfere  with  their  re- 
ligious usages.  I  rode  one  day  round  the  burial  ground.  The 
tombs  are  strewed  over  a  great  expanse,  among  the  vast  moun- 
tains of  rubbish  (the  accumulations  of  many  centuries)  which 
surround  the  city.  The  ground,  unlike  the  Turkish  "  cities  of 
the  dead,''  which  are  made  so  beautiful  by  their  dark  cypresses, 
has  nothing  to  sweeten  melancholy — nothing  to  mitigate  the 
odiousness  of  death.  Carnivorous  beasts  and  birds  possess  the 
place  by  night,  and  now  in  the  fair  morning  it  was  all  alive 
with  fresh  comers — alive  with  dead.  Yet  at  this  very  time 
when  the  Plague  was  raging  so  furiously,  and  on  this  very 
ground  which  resounded  so  mournfully  with  the  howls  of  arriv- 


CHAP,  xvni.]  CAIRO  AND  THE  PLAGUE.  159 

ing  funerals,  preparations  were  going  on  for  the  religious 
festival  called  the  Kourban  Bairam.  Tents  were  pitched 
and  swings  hung  for  the  amusement  of  children — a  ghastly  holli- 
day  !  but  the  Mahometans  take  a  pride,  and  a  just  pride,  in  fol- 
lowing their  ancient  customs  undisturbed  by  the  shadow  of 
death. 

I  did  not  hear  whilst  I  was  at  Cairo  that  any  prayer  for  a  re- 
mission of  the  Plague  had  been  offered  up  in  the  mosques.  I 
believe  that,  however  frightful  the  ravages  of  the  disease  may 
be,  the  Mahometans  refrain  from  approaching  Heaven  with  their 
complaints  until  the  Plague  has  endured  for  a  long  space,  and 
then  at  last  they  pray  God,  not  that  the  Plague  may  cease,  but 
that  it  may  not  go  to  another  city  ! 

A  good  Mussulman  seems  to  take  pride  in  repudiating  the 
European  notion  that  the  will  of  God  can  be  eluded  by  eluding 
the  touch  of  a  sleeve.  When  I  went  to  see  the  Pyramids  of 
Sakkara,  I  was  the  guest  of  a  noble  old  fellow — an  Osmanlee, 
whose  soft  rolling  language  it  was  a  luxury  to  hear,  after  suf- 
fering as  I  had  suffered  of  late  from  the  shrieking  tongue  of  the 
Arabs  ;  this  man  was  aware  of  the  European  ideas  about  conta- 
gion, and  his  first  care,  therefore,  was  to  assure  me  that  not  a  sin- 
gle instance  of  Plague  had  occurred  in  his  village  ;  he  then  in- 
quired as  to  the  progress  of  the  Plague  at  Cairo — I  had  but  a 
bad  account  to  give.  Up  to  this  time  my  host  had  carefully  re- 
frained from  touching  me,  out  of  respect  to  the  European  theory 
of  contagion,  but  as  soon  as  it  was  made  plain  that  he,  and  not 
I,  would  be  the  person  endangered  by  contact,  he  gently  laid 
his  hand  upon  my  arm,  in  order  to  make  me  feel  sure  that  the 
circumstance  of  my  coming  from  an  infected  city  did  not  occa- 
sion him  the  least  uneasiness.  That  touch  was  worthy  of  Jove. 

Very  different  is  the  faith  and  the  practice  of  the  Europeans, 
or  rather  I  mean  of  the  Europeans  settled  in  the  East,  and  com- 
monly called  Levantines.  When  I  came  to  the  end  of  my 
journey  over  the  desert,  I  had  been  so  long  alone  that  the  pros- 
pect of  speaking  to  somebody  at  Cairo  seemed  almost  a  new 
excitement.  I  felt  a  sort  of  consciousness  that  I  had  a  little  of 
the  wild  beast  about  me,  but  I  was  quite  in  the  humor  to  be 
charmingly  tame,  and  to  be  quite  engaging  in  my  manners  if  I 


160  EOTHEN.  [CHAP.  xvni. 

should  have  an  opportunity  of  holding  communion  with  any  of 
the  human  race  whilst  at  Cairo.  I  knew  no  one  in  the  place, 
and  had  no  letters  of  introduction,  but  I  carried  letters  of  credit, 
and  it  often  happens  in  places  remote  from  England  that  those 
"advices"  operate  as  a  sort  of  introduction,  and  obtain  for  the 
bearer  (if  disposed  to  receive  them)  such  ordinary  civilities  as 
it  may  be  in  the  power  of  the  banker  to  offer. 

Very  soon  after  my  arrival  I  went  to  the  house  of  the  Levan- 
tine, to  whom  my  credentials  were  addressed.  At  his  door 
several  persons  (all  Arabs)  were  hanging  about  and  keeping 
guard.  It  was  not  till  after  some  delay,  and  the  passing  of  some 
communications  with  those  in  the  interior  of  the  citadel,  that  I 
was  admitted.  At  length,  however,  I  was  conducted  through  the 
court  and  up  a  flight  of  stairs,  and  finally  into  the  apartment 
where  business  was  transacted.  The  room  was  divided  by  an 
excellent,  substantial  fence  of  iron  bars,  and  behind  this  grille 
the  banker  had  his  station.  The  truth  was,  that  from  fear  of 
the  plague  he  had  adopted  the  course  usually  taken  by  Euro- 
pean residents,  and  had  shut  himself  up  "  in  strict  quarantine," — 
that  is  to  say,  that  he  had,  as  he  hoped;  cut  himself  off  from  all 
communication  with  infecting  substances.  The  Europeans  long 
resident  in  the  East,  without  any,  or  with  scarcely  any  excep- 
tion, are  firmly  convinced  that  the  plague  is  propagated  by  con- 
tact and  by  contact  only — that  if  they  can  but  avoid  the 
touch  of  an  infecting  substance,  they  are  safe,  and  if  they  can- 
not, they  die.  This  belief  induces  them  to  adopt  the  contrivance 
of  putting  themselves  in  that  state  of  siege  which  they  call 
"  Quarantine."  It  is  a  part  of  their  faith  that  metals  and 
hempen  rope,  and  also,  I  fancy,  one  or  two  other  substances  will 
not  carry  the  infection ;  and  they  likewise  believe  that  the  germ 
of  pestilence  which  lies  in  an  infected  substance,  may  be 
destroyed  by  submersion  in  water,  or  by  the  action  of  smoke. 
They  therefore  guard  the  doors  of  their  houses  with  the  utmost 
care  against  intrusion,  and  condemn  themselves  and  all  the 
members  of  their  family,  including  any  European  servants,  to  a 
strict  imprisonment  within  the  walls  of  their  dwelling.  Their 
native  attendants  are  not  allowed  to  enter  at  all,  but  they  make 
the  necessary  purchases  of  provisions,  which  are  hauled  up 


CHAP,  xviii.]  CAIRO  AND  THE  PLAGUE.  161 

through  one  of  the  windows  by  means  of  a  rope,  and  are  then 
soaked  in  water. 

I  knew  nothing  of  these  mysteries,  and  was  not  therefore  pre- 
pared for  the  sort  of  reception  which  I  met  with.  I  advanced  to 
the  iron  fence,  and  putting  my  letter  between  the  bars,  politely 
proffered  it  to  Mr.  Banker.  Mr.  Banker  received  me  with  a 
sad  and  dejected  look,  and  not  "  with  open  arms,"  or  with  any 
arms  at  all,  but  with — a  pair  of  tongs ! — I  placed  my  letter 
between  the  iron  fingers  which  picked  it  up  as  if  it  were  a  viper, 
and  conveyed  it  away  to  be  scorched  and  purified  by  fire  and 
srnoke.  I  was  disgusted  at  this  reception,  and  at  the  idea  that 
anything  of  mine  could  carry  infection  to  the  poor  wretch,  who 
stood  on  the  other  side  of  the  grille — pale  and  trembling,  and 
already  meet  for  Death.  I  looked  with  something  of  the  Maho- 
metan's feeling  upon  these  little  contrivances  for  eluding  Fate  ; 
and  in  this  instance  at  least  they  were  vain ;  a  few  more  days 
and  the  poor  money-changer  who  had  strived  to  guaz-d  the  days 
of  his  life  (as  though  they  were  coins)  with  bolts  and  bars  of  iron 
— he  was  seized  by  the  Plague  and  he  died. 

To  people  entertaining  such  opinions  as  these  respecting  the 
fatal  effect  of  contact,  the  narrow  and  crowded  streets  of  Cairo 
were  terrible  as  the  easy  slope  that  leads  to  Avernus.  The 
roaring  Ocean  and  the  beetling  crags  owe  something  of  their 
sublimity  to  this — that  if  they  be  tempted,  they  can  take  the 
warm  life  of  a  man.  To  the  contagionist,  filled  as  he  is  with 
the  dread  of  final  causes,  having  no  faith  in  Destiny,  nor  in  the 
fixed  will  of  God,  and  with  none  of  the  devil-may-care  indiffer- 
ence which  might  stand  him  instead  of  creeds — to  such  one,  every 
rag  that  shivers  in  the  breeze  of  a  Plague-stricken  city  has  this 
sort  of  sublimity.  If  by  any  terrible  ordinance  he  be  forced  to 
venture  forth,  he  sees  Death  dangling  from  every  sleeve,  and  as 
he  creeps  forward  he  poises  his  shuddering  limbs  between  the 
imminent  jacket  that  is  stabbing  at  his  right  elbow  and  the  mur- 
derous pelisse  that  threatens  to  mow  him  clean  down,  as  it 
sweeps  along  on  his  left.  But  most  of  all  he  dreads  that  which 
most  of  all  he  should  love — the  touch  of  a  woman's  dress,  for 
mothers  and  wives  hurrying  forth  on  kindly  errands  from  the 
bedsides  of  the  dying,  go  slouching  along  through  the  streets 
12 


162  EOTHEN.  [CHAP.  xvm. 

more  wilfully  and  less  courteously  than  the  men.  For  a  while 
it  may  be  that  the  caution  of  the  poor  Levantine  may  enable  him 
to  avoid  contact,  but  sooner  or  later,  perhaps,  the  dreaded  chance 
arrives ;  that  bundle  of  linen,  with  the  dark  tearful  eyes  at  the 
top  of  it,  that  labors  along  with  the  voluptuous  clumsiness  of 
Grisi — s"he  has  touched  the  poor  Levantine  with  the  hem  of  her 
sleeve !  from  that  dread  moment  his  peace  is  gone  ;  his  mind 
for  ever  hanging  upon  the  fatal  touch,  invites  the  blow  which  he 
fears ;  he  watches  for  the  symptoms  of  plague  so  carefully,  that 
sooner  or  later  they  come  in  truth.  The.  parched  mouth  is  a 
sign — his  mouth  is  parched  ;  the  throbbing  brain — his  brain  does 
throb ;  the  rapid  pulse — he  touches  his  own  wrist  (for  he  dares 
not  ask  counsel  of  any  man  lest  he  be  deserted),  he  touches  his 
wrist,  and  feels  how  his  frighted  blood  goes  galloping  out  of  his 
heart ;  there  is  nothing  but  the  fatal  swelling  that  is  wanting  to 
make  his  sad  conviction  complete  ;  immediately  he  has  an  odd 
feel  under  the  arm — no  pain,  but  a  little  straining  of  the  skin ; 
he  would  to  God  it  were  his  fancy  that  were  strong  enough  to 
give  him  that  sensation ;  this  is  the  worst  of  all ;  it  now  seems 
to  him  that  he  could  be  happy  and  contented  with  his  parched 
mouth,  and  his  throbbing  brain  and  his  rapid  pulse,  if  only  he 
could  know  that  there  were  no  swelling  under  the  left  arm ;  but 
dares  he  try  ? — in  a  moment  of  calmness  and  deliberation  he 
dares  not,  but  when  for  a  while  he  has  writhed  under  the  torture 
of  suspense,  a  sudden  strength  of  will  drives  him  to  seek  and 
know  his  fate  ;  he  touches  the  gland  and  finds  the  skin  sane  and 
sound,  but  under  the  cuticle  there  lies  a  small  lump  like  a  pistol 
bullet  that  moves  as  he  pushes  it.  Oh  !  but  is  this  for  all  cer- 
tainty, is  this  the  sentence  of  death  ?  feel  the  gland  of  the  other 
arm ;  there  is  not  the  same  lump  exactly,  yet  something  a  little 
like  it ;  have  not  some  people  glands  naturally  enlarged  ? — would 
to  Heaven  he  were  one  !  So  he  does  for  himself  the  work  of  the 
Plague,  and  when  the  Angel  of  Death,  thus  courted,  does  indeed 
and  in  truth  come,  he  has  only  to  finish  that  which  has  been  so 
well  begun ;  he  passes  his  fiery  hand  over  the  brain  of  the  vic- 
tim, and  lets  him  rave  for  a  season,  but  all  chance-wise,  of  peo- 
ple and  things  once  dear,  or  of  people  and  things  indifferent. 
Once  more  the  poor  fellow  is  back  at  his  home  in  fair  Provence, 


CHAP,  xvni.]  CAIRO  AND  THE  PLAGUE.  163 

and  sees  the  sun-dial  that  stood  in  his  childhood's  garden — sees 
part  of  his  mother,  and  the  long-since-forgotten  face  of  that  little 
dead  sister — (he  sees  her,  he  says,  on  a  Sunday  morning,  for  all 
the  church  bells  are  ringing)  ;  he  looks  up  and  down  through  the 
universe,  and  owns  it  well  piled  with  bales  upon  bales  of  cotton, 
and  cotton  eternal — so  much  so,  that  he  feels — he  knows— he 
swears  that  he  could  make  that  winning  hazard,  if  the  billiard 
table  would  not  slant  upwards,  and  if  the  cue  were  a  cue  worth 
playing  with  ;  but  it  is  not — it's  a  cue  that  won't  move — his  own 
arm  won't  move — in  short,  there's  the  devil  to  pay  in  the  brain 
of  the  poor  Levantine,  and,  perhaps,  the  next  night  but  one  he 
becomes  the  "life  and  the  soul"  of  some  squalling  jackal 
family,  who  fish  him  out  by  the  foot  from  his  shallow  and  sandy 
grave. 

Better  fate  was  mine ;  by  some  happy  perverseness  (occa- 
sioned perhaps  by  my  disgust  at  the  notion  of .  being  received 
with  a  pair  of  tongs),  I  took  it  into  my  pleasant  head  that  all  the 
European  notions  about  contagion  were  thoroughly  unfounded — 
that  the  Plague  might  be  providential,  or  "  epidemic"  (as  they 
phrase  it),  but  was  not  contagious,  and  that  I  could  not  be  killed 
by  the  touch  of  a  woman's  sleeve,  nor  yet  by  her  blessed  breath. 
I  therefore  determined  that  the  Plague  should  not  alter  my  habits 
and  amusements  in  any  one  respect.  Though  I  came  to  this 
resolve  from  impulse,  I  think  that  I  took  the  course  which  was 
in  effect  the  most  prudent,  for  the  cheerfulness  of  spirits  which 
I  was  thus  enabled  to  retain,  discouraged  the  yellow- winged 
Angel,  and  prevented  him  from  taking  a  shot  at  me.  I  how- 
ever so  far  respected  the  opinion  of  the  Europeans,  that  I  avoid- 
ed touching,  when  I  could  do  so  without  privation  or  inconve- 
nience. This  endeavor  furnished  me  with  a  sort  of  amusement 
as  I  passed  through  the  streets.  The  usual  mode  of  moving 
from  place  to  place  in  the  city  of  Cairo,  is  upon  donkeys,  of 
which  great  numbers  are  always  in  readiness,  with  donkey- 
boys  attached.  I  had  two  who  constantly  (until  one  of  them 
died  of  the  Plague)  waited  at  my  door  upon  the  chance  of  being 
wanted.  I  found  this  way  of  moving  about  exceedingly  plea- 
sant, and  never  attempted  any  other.  I  had  only  to  mount  my 
beast,  and  tell  my  donkey  boy  the  point  for  which  I  was  bound, 


1G4  EOTHEN.  [CHAP.  xvm. 

and  instantly  I  began  to  glide  on  at  a  capital  pace.  The  streets 
of  Cairo  are  not  paved  in  any  way,  but  strewed  with  a  dry  sandy 
soil  so  deadening  to  sound  that  the  foot- fall  of  my  donkey  could 
scarcely  be  heard.  There  is  no  trottoir,  and  as  you  ride 
through  the  streets,  you  mingle  with  the  people  on  foot ;  those 
who  are  in  your  way,  upon  being  warned  by  the  shouts  of  the 
donkey-boy,  move  very  slightly  aside  so  as  to  leave  you  a  nar- 
row lane  through  which  you  pass  at  a  gallop.  In  this  way  you 
glide  on  delightfully  in  the  very  midst  of  crowds,  without  being 
inconvenienced  or  stopped  for  a  moment ;  it  seems  to  you  that  it 
is  not  the  donkey  but  the  donkey-boy  who  wafts  you  on  with  his 
shouts  through  pleasant  groups  and  air  that  feels  thick  with  the 
fragrance  of  burial  spice.  "  Eh  !  Sheik, — Eh  !  Bint, — regga- 
lek — shumalek,  &c.,  &c. — O  old  man,  O  virgin,  get  out  of  the 
way  on  the  right — O  virgin,  O  old  man,  get  out  of  the  way  on 
the  left, — this  Englishman  comes,  he  comes,  he  comes !"  The 
narrow  alley  which  these  shouts  cleared  for  my  passage  made 
it  possible,  though  difficult,  to  go  on  for  a  long  way  without 
touching  a  single  person,  and  my  endeavors  to  avoid  such  con- 
tact were  a  sort  of  game  for  me  in  my  loneliness,  which  was 
not  without  interest.  If  I  got  through  a  street  without  being 
touched,  I  won  ;  if  I  was  touched,  I  lost, — lost  a  deuce  of  a 
stake,  according  to  the  theory  of  the  Europeans,  but  that  I 
deemed  to  be  all  nonsense, — I  only  lost  that  game?  and  would 
certainly  win  the  next. 

There  is  not  much  in  the  way  of  public  buildings  to  admire 
at  Cairo,  but  I  saw  one  handsome  mosque,  to  which  an  instruc- 
tive history  is  attached.  A  Hindostanee  merchant,  having 
amassed  an  immense  fortune,  settled  in  Cairo,  and  soon  found 
that  his  riches  in  the  then  state  of  the  political  world  gave  him 
vast  power  in  the  city — power,  however,  the  exercise  of  which 
was  much  restrained  by  the  counteracting  influence  of  other 
wealthy  men.  With  a  view  to  extinguish  every  attempt  at 
rivalry  the  Hindostanee  merchant  built  this  magnificent  mosque 
at  his  own  expense  ;  when  the  work  was  complete,  he  invited  all 
the  leading  men  of  the  city  to  join  him  in  prayer  within  the 
walls  of  the  newly  built  temple,  and  he  then  caused  to  be  mas- 
sacred all  those  who  were  sufficiently  influential  to  cause  him 


CHAP,  xviii.]  CAIRO  AND  THE  PLAGUE.  165 

any  jealousy  or  uneasiness — in  short,  all  "  the  respectable  men" 
of  the  place  ;  after  this  he  possessed  undisputed  power  in  the 
city,  and  was  greatly  revered — he  is  revered  to  this  day.  It 
seemed  to  me  that  there  was  a  touching  simplicity  in  the  mode 
which  this  man  so  successfully  adopted  for  gaining  the  confi- 
dence and  good  will  of  his  fellow-citizens.  There  seems  to  be 
some  improbability  in  the  story  (though  not  nearly  so  gross  as 
it  might  appear  to  an  European  ignorant  of  the  East,  for  wit- 
ness Mehemet  Ali's  destruction  of  the  Mamelukes,  a  closely 
similar  act  and  attended  with  the  like  brilliant  success*),  but 
even  if  the  story  be  false,  as  a  mere  fact,  it  is  perfectly  true  as 
an  illustration, — it  is  a  true  exposition  of  the  means  by  which 
the  respect  and  affection  of  Orientals  may  be  conciliated. 

I  ascended  one  day  to  the  citadel,  which  commands  a  superb 
view  of  the  town.  The  fanciful  and  elaborate  gilt- work  of  the 
many  minarets  gives  a  light  and  florid  grace  to  the  city  as  seen 
from  this  height,  but  before  you  can  look  for  many  seconds  at 
such  things,  your  eyes  are  drawn  westward — drawn  westward, 
and  over  the  Nile,  till  they  rest  with  a  heavy  stare  upon  the 
massive  enormities  of  the  Ghizeh  pyramids.  I  saw  within  the 
fortress  many  yoke  of  men,  all  haggard  and  wo-begone,  and  a 
kennel  of  very  fine  lions  well  fed  and  flourishing ;  I  say  yoke  of 
men,  for  the  poor  fellows  were  working  together  in  bonds ;  1  say 
a  kennel  of  lions ;  for  the  beasts  were  not  enclosed  in  cages,  but 
simply  chained  up  like  dogs. 

I  went  round  the  Bazaars  ;  it  seemed  to  me  that  pipes  and 
arms  were  cheaper  here  than  at  Constantinople,  and  I  should 
advise  you  therefore  if  you  go  to  both  places  to  prefer  the  market 
of  Cairo.  I  had  previously  bought  several  of  such  things  at 
Constantinople,  and  did  not  choose  to  encumber  myself,  or  to 
speak  more  honestly  I  did  not  choose  to  disencumber  my  purse 
by  making  ariy  more  purchases.  In  the  open  slave-market  I 
saw  about  fifty  girls  exposed  for  sale,  but  all  of  them  black,  or 
"  invisible"  brown.  A  slave  agent  took  me  to  some  rooms  in 
the  upper  story  of  the  building,  and  also  into  several  obscure 

*  Mehemet  Ali  invited  the  Mamelukes  to  a  feast,  and  murdered  them  in 
the  Banquet  Hall. 


166  EOTHEN.  [CHAP.  xvm. 

houses  in  the  neighborhood,  with  a  view  to  show  me  some  white 
women.  The  owners  raised  various  objections  to  the  display  of 
their  ware,  and  well  they  might,  for  I  had  not  the  least  notion  of 
purchasing  ;  some  refused  on  account  of  the  illegality  of  the 
proceeding,*  and  others  declared  that  all  transactions  of  this 
sort  were  completely  out  of  the  question  as  long  as  the  Plague 
was  raging.  I  only  succeeded  in  seeing  one  white  slave  who 
was  for  sale,  but  on  this  one  the  owner  affected  to  set  an  immense 
value,  and  raised  my  expectations  to  a  high  pitch,  by  saying 
that  the  girl  was  Circassian,  and  was  "  fair  as  the  full  Moon." 
After  a  good  deal  of  delay,  I  was  at  last  led  into  a  room,  at  the 
farther  end  of  which  was  that  mass  of  white  linen  which  indi- 
cates an  Eastern  woman  ;  she  was  bid  to  uncover  her  face,  and 
I  presently  saw  that  though  very  far  from  being  good  looking 
according  to  my  notion  of  beauty,  she  had  not  been  inaptly 
described  by  the  man,  who  compared  her  to  the  full  Moon,  for 
her  large  face  was  perfectly  round  and  perfectly  white. 
Though  very  young,  she  was  nevertheless  extremely  fat.  She 
gave  me  the  idea  of  having  been  got  up  for  sale — of  having  been 
fattened  and  whitened  by  medicines,  or  by  some  peculiar  diet. 
I  was  firmly  determined  not  to  see  any  more  of  her  than  the 
face ;  she  was  perhaps  disgusted  at  this  my  virtuous  resolve,  as 
well  as  with  my  personal  appearance — perhaps  she  saw  my  dis- 
taste and  disappointment ;  perhaps  she  wished  to  gain  favor 
with  her  owner  by  showing  her  attachment  to  his  faith ;  at  all 
events  she  holloaed  out  very  lustily  and  very  decidedly  that 
"  she  would  not  be  bought  by  the  Infidel." 

Whilst  I  remained  at  Cairo,  I  thought  it  worth  while  to  see 
something  of  the  Magicians,  who  may  be  considered  as  it  were 
the  descendants  of  those  who  contended  so  stoutly  against  the 
superior  power  of  Aaron.  I  therefore  sent  for  an  old  man  who 
was  held  to  be  the  chief  of  the  Magicians,  and  desired  him  to 
show  me  the  wonders  of  his  art.  The  old  man  looked  and 
dressed  his  character  exceedingly  well ;  the  vast  turban,  the 
flowing  beard,  and  the  ample  robes,  were  all  that  one  could  wish 
in  the  way  of  appearance.  The  first  experiment  (a  very  stale 

*  It  is  not  strictly  lawful  to  sell  white  slaves  to  a  Christian. 


CHAP,  xvm.]  CAIRO  AND  THE  PLAGUE.  167 

one),  which  he  attempted  to  perform  for  me,  was  that  of 
attempting  to  show  the  forms  and  faces  of  my  absent  friends, 
not  to  me,  but  to  a  boy  brought  in  from  the  streets  for  the  pur- 
pose,  and  said  to  be  chosen  at  random.  A  mangale  (pan  of 
burning  charcoal)  was  brought  into  my  room,  and  the  Magician 
bending  over  it,  sprinkled  upon  the  fire  some  substances  which 
must  have  consisted  partly  of  spices,  or  sweetly  burning  woods, 
for  immediately  a  fragrant  smoke  arose,  which  curled  round  the 
bending  form  of  the  Wizard,  the  while  that  he  pronounced  his 
first  incantations ;  when  these  were  over,  the  boy  was  made  to 
sit  down,  and  a  common  green  shade  was  bound  over  his  brow  ; 
then  the  Wizard  took  ink,  and  still  continuing  his  incantations, 
wrote  certain  mysterious  figures  upon  the  boy's  palm,  and 
directed  him  to  rivet  his  attention  to  these  marks,  without  look- 
ing aside  for  an  instant ;  again  the  incantations  proceeded,  and 
after  a  while  the  boy  being  seemingly  a  little  agitated,  was  asked 
whether  he  saw  anything  on  the  palm  of  his  hand  ;  he  declared 
that  he  saw  a  kind  of  military  procession  with  flags  and  banners, 
which  he  described  rather  minutely.  I  was  then  called  upon 
to  name  the  absent  person  whose  form  was  to  be  made  visible. 
I  named  Keate.  You  were  not  at  Eton,  and  I  must  tell  you, 
therefore,  what  manner  of  man  it  was  that  I  named,  though  I 
think  you  must  have  some  idea  of  him  already,  for  wherever 
from  utmost  Canada  to  Bundelcund — wherever  there  was  the 
white-washed  wall  of  an  officer's  room,  or  of  any  other  apart- 
ment in  which  English  gentlemen'are  forced  to  kick  their  heels, 
there,  likely  enough  (in  the  days  of  his  reign),  the  head  of  Keate 
would  be  seen  scratched,  or  drawn  with  those  various  degrees  of 
skill  which  one  observes  in  the  representations  of  Saints.  Any- 
body without  the  least  notion  of  drawing  could  still  draw  a 
speaking,  nay  scolding  likeness  of  Keate.  If  you  had  no  pen- 
cil, you  could  draw  him  well  enough  with  a  poker,  or  the  leg  of 
a  chair,  or  the  smoke  of  a  candle.  He  was  little  more  (if  more 
at  all)  than  five  feet  in  height,  and  was  not  very  great  in  girth, 
but  in  this  space  was  concentrated  the  pluck  of  ten  battalions. 
He  had  a  really  noble  voice,  which  he  could  modulate  with  great 
skill,  but  he  had  also  the  power  of  quacking  like  an  angry  duck, 
and  he  almost  always  adopted  this  mode  of  communication  ' 


165  EOTHEN.  [CHAP.  xvm. 

in  order  to  inspire  respect ;  he  was  a  capital  scholar,  but  his 
ingenuous  learning  had  not  "  softened  his  manners,"  and  had 
11  permitted  them  to  be  fierce" — tremendously  fierce  ;  he  had  the 
most  complete  command  over  his  temper — I  mean  over  his  good 
temper,  which  he  scarcely  ever  allowed  to  appear ;  you  could 
not  put  him  out  of  humor — that  is  out  of  the  z7/-humor  which  he 
thought  to  be  fitting  for  a  head  master.  His  red,  shaggy  eye- 
brows were  so  prominent,  that  he  habitually  used  them  as  arms 
and  hands,  for  the  purpose  of  pointing  out  any  object  towards 
which  he  wished  to  direct  atte  ntion ;  the  rest  of  his  features 
were  equally  striking  in  their  way,  and  were  all  and  all  his 
own ;  he  wore  a  fancy  dress,  partly  resembling  the  costume  of 
Napoleon,  and  partly  that  of  a  widow- woman.  I  could  not  by 
any  possibility  have  named  anybody  more  decidedly  differing 
in  appearance  from  the  rest  of  the  human  race. 

"  Whom  do  you  name  ?" — "  I  name  John  Keate." — "  Now, 
what  do  you  see  ?"  said  the  Wizard  to  the  boy. — "  I  see,"  an- 
swered the  boy,  "  I  see  a  fair  girl  with  golden  hair,  blue  eyes, 
pallid  face,  rosy  lips."  There  was  a  shot !  I  shouted  out  my 
laughter  to  the  horror  of  the  Wizard,  who,  perceiving  the  gross- 
ness  of  his  failure,  declared  that  the  boy  must  have  known  sin 
(for  none  but  the  innocent  can  see  truth),  and  accordingly  kicked 
him  down  stairs. 

One  or  two  other  boys  were  tried,  but  none  could  "  see  truth  ;" 
they  all  made  sadly  "bad  shots." 

Notwithstanding  the  failure  of  these  experiments,  I  wished  to 
see  what  sort  of  mummery  my  Magician  would  practise  if  I 
called  upon  him  to  show  me  some  performances  of  a  higher 
order  than  those  which  had  been  attempted  ;  I  therefore  entered 
into  a  treaty  with  him,  in  virtue  of  which  he  was  to  descend 
with  me  into  the  tombs  near  the  Pyramids,  and  there  evoke  the 
Devil.  The  negotiation  lasted  some  time,  for  Dthemetri,  as  in 
duty  bound,  tried  to  beat  down  the  Wizard  as  much  as  he  could? 
and  the  Wizard,  on  his  part,  manfully  stuck  up  for  his  price, 
declaring  that  to  raise  the  Devil  was  really  no  joke,  and  insinu- 
ating that  to  do  so  was  an  awesome  crime.  I  let  Dthemetri  have- 
his  way  in  the  negotiation,  but  I  felt  in  reality  very  indifferent 
about  the  sum  to  be  paid,  and  for  this  reason,  namely,  that  the 


CHAP,  xviii.]  CAIRO  AND  THE  PLAGUE,  169 

payment  (except  a  very  small  present,  which  I  might  make,  or 
not,  as  I  chose)  was  to  be  contingent  on  success.  At  length  the 
bargain  was  made,  and  it  was  arranged  that  after  a  few  days  to 
be  allowed  for  preparation,  the  Wizard  should  raise  the  Devil 
for  two  pounds  ten,  play  or  pay — no  Devil,  no  piastres. 

The  Wizard  failed  to  keep  his  appointment.  I  sent  to  know 
why  the  deuce  he  had  not  come  to  raise  the  Devil.  The  truth 
was,  that  my  Mahomet  had  gone  to  the  mountain.  The  Plague 
had  seized  him,  and  he  died. 

Although  the  Plague  had  now  spread  terrible  havoc  around 
him,  I  did  not  see  very  plainly  any  corresponding  change  in  the 
look  of  the  streets  until  the  seventh  day  after  my  arrival ;  I  then 
first  observed  that  the  city  was  silenced.  There  were  no  out- 
ward signs  of  Despair,  nor  of  violent  terror,  but  many  of  the 
voices  that  had  swelled  the  busy  hum  of  men  were  already 
hushed  in  death,  and  the  survivors,  so  used  to  scream  and 
screech  in  their  earnestness  whenever  they  bought  or  sold,  now 
showed  an  unwonted  indifference  about  the  affairs  of  this  world  ; 
it  was  less  worth  while  for  men  to  haggle,  and  haggle,  and  crack 
the  sky  with  noisy  bargains,  when  the  Great  Commander  was 
there,  who  could  "  pay  all  their  debts  with  the  roll  of  his  drum." 

At  this  time  (the  year  was  1835),  I  was  informed  that  of 
twenty-five  thousand  people  at  Alexandria,  twelve  thousand  had 
died  already  ;  the  Destroyer  had  come  rather  later  to  Cairo,  but 
there  was  nothing  of  weariness  in  his  strides.  The  deaths  came 
faster  than  ever  they  befell  in  the  Plague  of  London,  but  the 
calmness  of  Orientals  under  such  visitations,  and  the  habit  of 
using  biers  for  interment,  instead  of  burying  coffins  along  with 
the  bodies,  rendered  it  practicable  to  dispose  of  the  Dead  in  the 
usual  way,  without  shocking  the  people  by  any  unaccustomed 
spectacle  of  horror.  There  was  no  tumbling  of  bodies  into  carts, 
as  in  the  Plague  of  Florence  and  the  Plague  of  London  ;  every 
man,  according  to  his  station,  was  properly  buried,  and  that  in 
the  usual  way,  except  that  he  went  to  his  grave  at  a  more  hur- 
ried pace  than  might  have  been  adopted  under  ordinary  circum- 
stances. 

The  funerals,  which  poured  through  the  streets,  were  not  the 
only  public  evidence  of  deaths.  In  Cairo  this  custom  prevails ; 


170  EOTHEN.  [CHAP.  xvm. 

at  the  instant  of  a  man's  death  (if  his  property  is  sufficient  to 
justify  the  expense),  professional  howlers  are  employed;  I  be- 
lieve that  these  persons  are  brought  near  to  the  dying  man, 
when  his  end  appears  to  be  approaching,  and  the  moment  that 
life  is  gone,  they  lift  up  their  voices,  and  send  forth  a  loud  wail 
from  the  chamber  of  Death.  Thus  I  knew  when  my  near 
neighbors  died ;  sometimes  the  howls  were  near ;  sometimes 
more  distant.  Once  I  was  awakened  in  the  night  by  the  wail  of 
death  in  the  next  house,  and  another  time  by  a  like  howl  from 
the  house  opposite  ;  and  there  were  two  or  three  minutes,  I 
recollect,  during  which  the  howl  seemed  to  be  actually  running 
along  the  street. 

I  happened  to  be  rather  teazed  at  this  time  by  a  sore  throat, 
and  I  thought  it  would  be  well  to  get  it  cured,  if  I  could,  before 
I  again  started  on  my  travels.  I  therefore  inquired  for  a  Frank 
doctor,  and  was  informed  that  the  only  one  then  at  Cairo  was  a 
young  Bolognese  Refugee,  who  was  so  poor  that  he  had  not  been 
able  to  take  flight,  as  the  other  medical  men  had  done.  At  such 
a  time  as  this,  it  was  out  of  the  question  to  send  for  an  European 
physician ;  a  person  thus  summoned  would  be  sure  to  suppose 
that  the  patient  was  ill  of  the  Plague,  and  would  decline  to  come. 
I  therefore  rode  to  the  young  Doctor's  residence :  after  expe- 
riencing some  little  difficulty  in  finding  where  to  look  for  him,  I 
ascended  a  flight  or  two  of  stairs,  and  knocked  at  his  door.  No 
one  came  immediately,  but  after  some  little  delay  the  Medico 
himself  opened  the  door  and  admitted  me.  I,  of  course,  made 
him  understand  that  I  had  come  to  consult  him,  but  before  enter- 
ing upon  my  throat  grievance,  I  accepted  a  chair,  and  exchanged 
a  sentence  or  two  of  common-place  conversation.  Now,  the 
natural  common-place  of  the  city  at  this  season  was  of  a  gloomy 
sort — "  Come  va  la  peste  ?"  (how  goes  the  plague  ?)  and  this  was 
precisely  the  question  I  put.  A  deep  sigh,  and  the  words  "  Sette 
cento  per  giorno,  Signor"  (seven  hundred  a  day),  pronounced  in 
a  tone  of  the  deepest  sadness  and  dejection,  were  the  answer  I 
received.  The  day  was  not  oppressively  hot,  yet  I  saw  that  the 
Doctor  was  transpiring  profusely,  and  even  the  outside  surface 
of  the  thick  shawl  dressing-gown,  in  which  he  had  wrapped  him- 
self, appeared  to  be  moist ;  he  was  a  handsome,  pleasant-looking 


CHAP,  xvm.]  CAIRO  AND  THE  PLAGUE.  171 

young  fellow,  but  the  deep  melancholy  of  his  tone  did  not  tempt 
me  to  prolong  the  conversation,  and  without  farther  delay  I  re- 
quested that  my  throat  might  be  looked  at.  The  Medico  held 
my  chin  in  the  usual  way,  and  examined  my  throat ;  he  then 
wrote  me  a  prescription,  and  almost  immediately  afterwards  I 
bid  him  farewell,  b'ut  as  he  conducted  me  towards  the  door  I 
observed  an  expression  of  strange  and  unhappy  watchfulness  in 
his  rolling  eyes.  It  was  not  the  next  day,  but  the  next  day  but 
one,  if  I  rightly  remember,  that  I  sent  to  request  another  inter- 
view with  my  Doctor  ;  in  due  time  Dthemetri,  who  was  my 
messenger,  returned,  looking  sadly  aghast — he  had  "  met  the 
Medico,"  for  so  he  phrased  it,  "  coming  out  from  his  house — in 
a  bier  !" 

It  was  of  course  plain  that  when  the  poor  Bolognese  was  look- 
ing at  my  throat,  and  almost  mingling  his  breath  with  mine,  he 
was  stricken  of  the  Plague.  I  suppose  that  the  violent  sweat  in 
which  I  found  him,  had  been  produced  by  some  medicine  which 
he  must  have  taken  in  the  hope  of  curing  himself.  The 
peculiar  rolling  of  the  eyes  which  I  had  remarked,  is,  I 
believe,  to  experienced  observers,  a  pretty  sure  test  of  the 
Plague.  A  Russian  acquaintance  of  mine,  speaking  from  the 
information  of  men  who  had  made  the  Turkish  campaigns  of 
1828  and  1829,  told  me  that  by  this  sign  the  officers  of  Sabal- 
kansky's  force  were  able  to  make  out  the  Plague-stricken  soldiers 
with  a  good  deal  of  certainty. 

It  so  happened  that  most  of  the  people  with  whom  I  had  any- 
thing to  do,  during  my  stay  at  Cairo,  were  seized  with  Plague, 
and  all  these  died.  Since  I  had  been  for  a  long  time  en  route 
before  I  reached  Egypt,  and  was  about  to  start  again  for  another 
long  journey  over  the  Desert,  there  were  of  course  many  little 
matters  touching  my  wardrobe,  and  my  travelling  equipments, 
which  required  to  be  attended  to  whilst  I  remained  in  the  city. 
It  happened  so  many  times  that  Dthemetri's  orders  in  respect  to 
these  matters  were  frustrated  by  the  deaths  of  the  tradespeople, 
and  others  whom  he  employed,  that  at  last  I  became  quite  ac- 
customed to  the  peculiar  manner  which  he  assumed  when  he 
prepared  to  announce  a  new  death  to  me.  The  poor  fellow  na- 
turally supposed  that  I  should  feel  some  uneasiness  at  hearing  of 


172  EOTHEN.  [CHAP.  xvni. 

the  "  accidents"  which  happened  to  persons  employed  by  me, 
and  he  therefore  communicated  their  deaths,  as  though  they 
were  the  deaths  of  friends  ;  he  would  cast  down  his  eyes, 
and  look  like  a  man  abashed,  and  then  gently,  and  with  a 
mournful  gesture  allow  the  words,  "  Morto,  Signor,"  to  come 
through  his  lips.  I  don't  know  how  many  of  such  instan- 
ces occurred,  but  they  were  several,  and  besides  these  (as  I 
told  you  before),  my  banker,  my  doctor,  my  landlord,  and  my 
magician,  all  died  of  the  Plague.  A  lad  who  acted  as  a  helper 
in  the  house  which  I  occupied,  lost  a  brother  and  a  sister  within 
a  few  hours.  Out  of  my  two  established  donkey-boys  one  died. 
I  did  not  hear  of  any  instance  in  which  a  plague-stricken  patient 
had  recovered. 

Going  out  one  morning,  I  met  unexpectedly  the  scorching 
breath  of  the  Khamseen  wind,  and  fearing  that  I  should  faint 
under  the  horrible  sensations  which  it  caused,  I  returned  to  my 
rooms.  Reflecting,  however,  that  I  might  have  to  encounter 
this  wind  in  the  desert,  where  there  would  be  no  possibility  of 
avoiding  it,  I  thought  it  would  be  better  to  brave  it  once  more 
in  the  city,  and  to  try  whether  I  could  really  bear  it  or  not.  I 
therefore  mounted  my  ass,  and  rode  to  old  Cairo,  and  along  the 
gardens  by  the  banks  of  the  Nile.  The  wind  was  hot  to  the 
touch  as  though  it  came  from  a  furnace  ;  it  blew  strongly,  but 
yet  with  such  perfect  steadiness,  that  the  trees  bending  under  its 
force  remained  fixed  in  the  same  curves  without  perceptibly 
waving  ;  the  whole  sky  was  obscured  by  a  veil  of  yellowish 
grey,  which  shut  out  the  face  of  the  sun.  The  streets  were 
utterly  silent,  being  indeed  almost  entirely  deserted,  and  not 
without  cause,  for  the  scorching  blast,  whilst  it  fevers  the  blood, 
closes  up  the  pores  of  the  skin,  and  is  terribly  distressing,  there- 
fore, to  every  animal  that  encounters  it.  I  returned  to  my  rooms 
dreadfully  ill.  My  head  ached  with  a  burning  pain,  and  my 
pulse  bounded  quick,  and  fitfully,  but  perhaps  (as  in  the  instance 
of  the  poor  Levantine,  whose  death  I  was  mentioning),  the  fear 
and  excitement  which  I  felt  in  trying  my  own  wrist,  may  have 
made  my  blood  flutter  the  faster. 

It  is  a  thoroughly  well  believed  theory,  that  during  the  con- 
tinuance of  the  Plague,  you  can't  be  ill  of  any  other  febrile 


CHAP,  xviii.]  CAIRO  AND  THE  PLAGUE.  173 

malady  ;  an  unpleasant  privilege  that !  for  ill  I  was,  and  ill  of 
fever,  and  I  anxiously  wished  that  the  ailment  might  turn  out  to 
be  anything  rather  than  Plague.  I  had  some  right  to  surmise 
that  my  illness  may  have  been  merely  the  effect  of  the  hot  wind, 
and  this  notion  was  encouraged  by  the  elasticity  of  my  spirits, 
and  by  a  strong  forefeeling  that  much  of  my  destined  life  in  this 
world  was  yet  to  come,  and  yet  to  be  fulfilled.  That  was  my 
instinctive  belief,  but  when  I  carefully  weighed  the  probabilities 
on  the  one  side,  and  on  the  other,  I  could  not  help  seeing  that 
the  strength  of  argument  was  all  against  me.  There  was  a 
strong  antecedent  likelihood  in  favor  of  my  being  struck  by  the 
same  blow,  as  the  rest  of  the  people  who  had  been  dying  around 
me.  Besides,  it  occurred  to  me,  that  after  all,  the  universal 
opinion  of  the  Europeans  upon  a  medical  question,  such  as  that 
of  contagion,  might  probably  be  correct,  and  if  it  were,  I  was  so 
thoroughly  "  compromised,"  and  especially  by  the  touch  and 
breath  of  the  dying  Medico,  that  I  had  no  right  to  expect  any 
other  fate  than  that  which  now  seemed  to  have  overtaken  me. 
Balancing  as  well  as  I  could  all  the  considerations  which  hope 
and  fear  suggested,  I  slowly  and  reluctantly  came  to  the  con- 
elusion  that  according  to  all  merely  reasonable  probability  the 
Plague  had  come  upon  me. 

You  would  suppose  that  this  conviction  would  have  induced 
me  to  write  a  few  farewell  lines  to  those  who  were  dearest,  and 
that  having  done  that,  I  should  have  turned  my  thoughts  towards 
the  world  to  come.  Such  however  wasjiot  the  case  ;  I  believe 
that  the  prospect  of  death  often  brings  with  it  strong  anxieties 
about  matters  of  comparatively  trivial  import,  and  certainly 
with  me  the  whole  energy  of  the  mind  was  directed  towards  the 
one  petty  object  of  concealing  my  illness  until  the  latest  pos- 
sible moment — until  the  delirious  stage.  I  did  not  believe  that 
either  My sseri,  or  Dthemetri,  who  had  served  me  so  faithfully 
in  all  trials,  would  have  deserted  me  (as  most  Europeans  are 
wont  to  do)  when  they  knew  that  I  was  stricken  by  Plague,  but 
I  shrank  from  the  idea  of  putting  them  to  this  test,  and  I  dreaded 
the  consternation  which  the  knowledge  of  my  illness  would  be 
sure  to  occasion. 

I  was  very  ill  indeed  at  the  moment  when  my  dinner  was 


EOTHEN.  [CHAP,  xviii. 


served,  and  my  soul  sickened  at  the  sight  of  the  food,  but  I  had 
luckily  the  habit  of  dispensing  with  the  attendance  of  servants 
during  my  meal,  and  as  soon  as  I  was  left  alone,  I  made  a  mel- 
ancholy calculation  of  the  quantity  of  food  which  I  should  have 
eaten  if  I  had  been  in  my  usual  health,  and  filled  my  plates  ac- 
cordingly, and  gave  myself  salt,  and  so  on,  as  though  I  were 
going  to  dine  ;  I  then  transferred  the  viands  to  a  piece  of  the 
omnipresent  "Times"  newspaper,  and  hid  them  away  in  a  cup- 
board, for  it  was  not  yet  night,  and  I  dared  not  to  throw  the  food 
into  the  street  until  darkness  came.  I  did  not  at  all  relish  this 
process  of  fictitious  dining,  but  at  length  the  cloth  was  removed, 
and  I  gladly  reclined  on  my  divan  (I  would  not  lie  down),  with 
the  "  Arabian  Nights"  in  my  hand. 

I  had  a  feeling  that  tea  would  be  a  capital  thing  for  me,  but  I 
would  not  order  it  until  the  usual  hour.  When  at  last  the  time 
came,  I  drank  deep  draughts  from  the  fragrant  cup.  The  effect 
was  almost  instantaneous.  A  plenteous  sweat  burst  through  my 
skin,  and  watered  my  clothes  through  and  through.  I  kept  my- 
self thickly  covered.  The  hot,  tormenting  weight  which  had 
been  loading  my  brain  was  slowly  heaved  away.  The  fever  was 
extinguished.  I  felt  a  new  buoyancy  of  spirits,  and  an  unusual 
activity  of  mind.  I  went  into  my  bed  under  a  load  of  thick 
covering,  and  when  the  morning  came,  and  I  asked  myself  how 
I  was,  I  found  that  I  was  thoroughly  well. 

I  was  very  anxious  to  procure,  if  possible,  some  medical 
advice  for  Mysseri,  whose  illness  prevented  my  departure. 
Every  one  of  the  European  practising  doctors,  of  whom  there 
had  been  many,  had  either  died  or  fled  ;  it  was  said,  however, 
that  there  was  an  Englishman  in  the  medical  service  of  the 
Pasha,  who  quietly  remained  at  his  post,  but  that  he  never  en- 
gaged in  private  practice.  I  determined  to  try  if  I  could  obtain 
assistance  in  this  quarter.  I  did  not  venture  at  first,  and  at  such 
a  time  as  this,  to  ask  him  to  visit  a  servant  who  was  prostrate  on 
the  bed  of  sickness,  but  thinking  that  I  might  thus  gain  an  op- 
portunity of  persuading  him  to  attend  Mysseri,  I  wrote  a  note 
mentioning  my  own  affair  of  the  sore  throat,  and  asking  for  the 
benefit  of  his  medical  advice ;  he  instantly  followed  back  my 
messenger,  and  was  at  once  shown  up  into  my  room  ;  I  entreated 


CHAP,  xvni.]  CAIRO  AND  THE  PLAGUE.  175 

him  to  stand  off,  telling  him  fairly  how  deeply  I  was  "  compro- 
mised," and  especially  by  my  contact  with  a  person  actually  ill, 
and  since  dead  of  Plague.  The  generous  fellow,  with  a  good- 
humored  laugh  at  the  terrors  of  the  contagionists,  marched 
straight  up  to  me,  and  forcibly  seized  my  hand,  and  shook  it 
with  manly  violence.  I  felt  grateful  indeed,  and  swelled  with 
fresh  pride  of  race,  because  that  my  countryman  could  carry 
himself  so  nobly.  He  soon  cured  Mysseri,  as  well  as  me,  and 
all  this  he  did  from  no  other  motives  than  the  pleasure  of  doing 
a  kindness,  and  the  delight  of  braving  a  danger. 

At  length  the  great  difficulty*  which  I  had  had  in  procuring 
beasts  for  my  departure  was  overcome,  and  now,  too,  I  was  to 
have  the  new  excitement  of  travelling  on  dromedaries.  With 
two  of  these  beasts,  and  three  camels,  I  gladly  wound  my  way 
from  out  of  the  pest-stricken  city.  As  I  passed  through  the 
streets,  I  observed  a  fanatical-looking  elder,  who  stretched  forth 
his  arms,  and  lifted  up  his  voice  in  a  speech  which  seemed  to 
have  some  reference  to  me  ;  requiring  an  interpretation,  I  found 
that  the  man  had  said,  "  The  Pasha  seeks  camels,  and  he  finds 
them  not — the  Englishman  says,  '  let  camels  be  brought,'  and 
behold — there  they  are  !" 

I  no  sooner  breathed  the  free,  wholesome  air  of  the  desert, 
than  I  felt  that  a  great  burthen  which  I  had  been  scarcely  con- 
scious of  bearing,  was  lifted  away  from  my  mind.  For  nearly 
three  weeks  I  had  lived  under  peril  of  death ;  the  peril  ceased, 
and  not  till  then  did  1  know  how  much  alarm  and  anxiety  I  had 
really  been  suffering. 

*  The  difficulty  was  occasioned  by  the  immense  exertions  which  the  Pasha 
was  making  to  collect  camels  for  military  purposes. 


176  EOTHEN.  [CHAP.  xvm. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

The  Pyramids. 

I  WENT  to  see,  and  to  explore  the  Pyramids. 

Familiar  to  one  from  the  days  of  early  childhood  are  the  forms 
of  the  Egyptian  Pyramids,  and  now,  as  I  approached  them  from 
the  banks  of  the  Nile,  I  had  no  print,  no  picture  before  me,  and 
yet  the  old  shapes  were  there ;  there  was  no  change  ;  they  were 
just  as  I  had  always  known  them.  I  straightened  myself  in  my 
stirrups,  and  strived  to  persuade  my  understanding  that  this  was 
real  Egypt,  and  that  those  angles  which  stood  up  between  me 
and  the  West  were  of  harder  stuff,  and  more  ancient  than  the 
paper  pyramids  of  the  green  portfolio.  Yet  it  was  not  till  I 
came  to  the  base  of  the  great  Pyramid,  that  reality  began  to 
weigh  upon  my  mind.  Strange  to  say,  the  bigness  of  the  dis- 
tinct blocks  of  stone  was  the  first  sign  by  which  I  attained  to  feel 
the  immensity  of  the  whole  pile.  When  I  came,  and  trod,  and 
touched  with  my  hands,  and  climbed,  in  order  that  by  climbing 
I  might  come  to  the  top  of  one  single  stone,  then,  and  almost 
suddenly,  a  cold  sense  and  understanding  of  the  Pyramid's 
enormity  came  down  overcasting  my  brain. 

Now  try  to  endure  this  homely,  sick-nursish  illustration  of  the 
effect  produced  upon  one's  mind  by  the  mere  vastness  of  the  great 
Pyramid  :  when  I  was  very  young  (between  the  ages,  I  believe, 
of  three  and  five  years  old),  being  then  of  delicate  health,  I  was 
often  in  time  of  night  the  victim  of  a  strange  kind  of  mental 
oppression  ;  I  lay  in  my  bed  perfectly  conscious,  and  with  open 
eyes,  but  without  power  to  speak,  or  to  move,  and  all  the  while 
my  brain  was  oppressed  to  distraction  by  the  presence  of  a  single 
and  abstract  idea, — the  idea  of  solid  Immensity.  *  It  seemed  to 
me  in  my  agonies,  that  the  horror  of  this  visitation  arose  from 
its  coming  upon  me  without  form  or  shape — that  the  close 


CHAP,  xix.]  THE  PYRAMIDS.  177 

presence  of  the  direst  monster  ever  bred  in  Hell  would  have 
been  a  thousand  times  more  tolerable,  than  that  simple  idea  of 
solid  size  ;  my  aching  mind  was  fixed,  and  riveted  down  upon 
the  mere  quality  of  vastness,  vastness,  vastness ;  and  was  not 
permitted  to  invest  with  it  any  particular  object.  If  I  could  have 
done  so,  the  torment  would  have  ceased.  When  at  last  I  was 
roused  from  this  state  of  suffering,  I  could  not  of  course  in  those 
days  (knowing  no  verbal  metaphysics,  and  no  metaphysics  at  all, 
except  by  the  dreadful  experience  of  an  abstract  idea),  I  could 
not  of  course  find  words  to  describe  the  nature  of  my  sensations, 
and  even  now  I  cannot  explain  why  it  is  that  the  forced  con- 
templation of  a  mere  quality,  distinct  from  matter,  should  be  so 
terrible.  Well,  now  my  eyes  saw  and  knew,  and  my  hands 
and  my  feet  informed  my  understanding,  that  there  was  nothing 
at  all  abstract  about  the  great  Pyramid, — it  was  a  big  triangle, 
sufficiently  concrete,  easy  to  see,  and  rough  to  the  touch ;  it 
could  not,  of  course,  affect  me  with  the  peculiar  sensation  which 
I  have  been  talking  of,  but  yet  there  was  something  akin  to  that 
old  night-mare  agony  in  the  terrible  completeness  with  which  a 
mere  mass  of  masonry  could  fill  and  load  my  mind. 

And  Time  too ;  the  remoteness  of  its  origin,  no  less  than  the 
enormity  of  its  proportions,  screens  an  Egyptian  Pyramid  from 
the  easy  and  familiar  contact  of  our  modern  minds ;  at  its  base 
the  common  Earth  ends,  and  all  above  is  a  world — one  not  created 
of  God, — not  seeming  to  be  made  by  men's  hands,  but  rather, 
the  shear  giant- work  of  some  old  dismal  age  weighing  down  this 
younger  planet. 

Fine  sayings !  but  the  truth  seems  to  be,  after  all,  that  the 
Pyramids  are  quite  of  this  world;  that  they  were  piled  up  into 
the  air  for  the  realization  of  some  kingly  crotchets  about  immor- 
tality,— some  priestly  longing  for  burial  fees ;  and  that  as  for  the 
building — they  were  built  like  coral  rocks  by  swarms  of  insects, 
— by  swarms  of  poor  Egyptians,  who  were  not  only  the  abject 
tools  and  slaves  of  power,  but  who  also  eat  onions  for  the  reward 
of  their  immortal  labors!*  The  Pyramids  are  quite  of  this 
world. 

*  Herodotus,  in  an  after  age,  stood  by  with  his  note  book,  and  got,  as  he 
thought,  the  exact  returns  of  all  the  rations  served  out. 
13 


178  EOTHEN.  [CHAP.  xix. 

I  of  course  ascended  to  the  summit  of  the  great  Pyramid,  and 
also  explored  its  chambers,  but  these  I  need  not  describe.  The 
first  time  that  I  went  to  the  Pyramids  of  Ghizeh,  there  were  a 
number  of  Arabs  hanging  about  in  its  neighborhood,  and  want- 
ing  to  receive  presents  on  various  pretences ;  their  Sheik  was 
with  them.  There  was  also  present  an  ill  looking  fellow  in 
soldier's  uniform.  This  man  on  my  departure  claimed  a  reward, 
on  the  ground  that  he  had  maintained  order  and  decorum 
amongst  the  Arabs  ;  his  claim  was  not  considered  valid  by  my 
Dragoman,  and  was  rejected  accordingly  :  my  donkey-boys  after- 
wards said  they  had  overheard  this  fellow  propose  to  the  Sheik 
to  put  me  to  death  whilst  I  was  in  the  interior  of  the  great 
Pyramid,  and  to  share  with  him  the  booty  ;  fancy  a  struggle  for 
life  in  one  of  those  burial  chambers,  with  acres  and  acres  of  solid 
masonry  between  oneself  and  the  daylight !  I  felt  exceedingly 
glad  that  I  had  not  made  the  rascal  a  present. 

I  visited  the  very  ancient  Pyramids  of  Aboucir  and  Sakka- 
ra ;  there  are  many  of  these,  and  of  various  shapes  and  sizes, 
and  it  struck  me  that  taken  together  they  might  be  considered 
.as  showing  the  progress  and  perfection  (such  as  it  is)  of  Pyra- 
midical  Architecture.  One  of  the  Pyramids  at  Sakkara  is 
almost  a  rival  for  the  full  grown  monster  of  Ghizeh ;  others  are 
-scarcely  more  than  vast  heaps  of  brick  and  stone  ;  these  last 
suggested  to  me  the  idea  that  after  all  the  Pyramid  is  nothing 
more  nor  less  than  a  variety  of  the  sepulchral  mound  so  com- 
mon in  most  countries  (including  I  believe  Hindostan,  from 
whence  the  Egyptians  are  supposed  to  have  come).  Men  ac- 
customed to  raise  these  structures  for  their  dead  Kings,  or  con- 
querors, would  carry  the  usage  with  them  in  their  migrations, 
but  arriving  in  Egypt,  and  seeing  the  impossibility  of  finding 
earth  sufficiently  tenacious  for  a  mound,  they  would  approxi- 
mate as  nearly  as  might  be  to  their  ancient  custom  by  raising 
up  a  round  heap  of  these  stones, — in  short,  conical  pyramids  ; 
of  these  there  are  several  at  Sakkara,  and  the  materials  of  some 
are  thrown  together  without  any  order  or  regularity.  The 
transition  from  this  simple  form  to  that  of  the  square  angular 
pyramid,  was  easy  and  natural,  and  it  seemed  to  me  that  the 
gradations  through  which  the  style  passed  from  infancy  up  to  its 
mature  enormity,  could  plainly  be  traced  at  Sakkara. 


CHAP,  xx.]  THE  SPHYNX.  179 


CHAPTER  XX. 

The  Sphynx. 

AND  near  the  Pyramids,  more  wondrous,  and  more  awful  than 
all  else  in  the  land  of  Egypt,  there  sits  the  lonely  Sphynx. 
Comely  the  creature  is,  but  the  comeliness  is  not  of  this  world ; 
the  once  worshipped  beast  is  a  deformity  and  a  monster  to  this 
generation,  and  yet  you  can  see  that  those  lips,  so  thick  and 
heavy,  were  fashioned  according  to  some  ancient  mould  of 
beauty — some  mould  of  beauty  now  forgotten — forgotten  be- 
cause that  Greece  drew  forth  Cytherea  from  the  flashing  foam  of 
the  ^Egean,  and  in  her  image  created  new  forms  of  beauty,  and 
made  it  a  law  among  men  that  the  short  and  proudly  wreathed 
lip  should  stand  for  the  sign  and  the  main  condition  of  loveli- 
ness, through  all  generations  to  come.  Yet  still  there  lives  on 
the  race  of  those  who  were  beautiful  in  the  fashion  of  the  elder 
world,  and  Christian  girls  of  Coptic  blood,  will  look  on  you  with 
the  sad,  serious  gaze,  and  kiss  you  your  charitable  hand  with 
the  big,  pouting  lips  of  the  very  Sphynx. 

Laugh,  and  mock  if  you  will  at  the  worship  of  stone  idols, 
but  mark  ye  this,  ye  breakers  of  images,  that  in  one  regard,  the 
stone  idol  bears  awful  semblance  of  Deity — unchangefulness  in 
the  midst  of  change — the  same  seeming  will  and  intent  for  ever 
and  ever  inexorable  !  Upon  ancient  dynasties  of  Ethiopian  and 
Egyptian  Kings — upon  Greek  and  Roman,  upon  Arab  and 
Ottoman  conquerors — upon  Napoleon  dreaming  of  an  Eastern 
Empire — upon  battle  and  pestilence — upon  the  ceaseless  misery 
of  the  Egyptian  race — upon  keen-eyed  travellers — Herodotus 
yesterday,  and  Warburton*  to-day — upon  all,  and  more  this  un- 

*  Eliot  Warburton,  who  is  known  to  be  the  author  of  those  brilliantly 
sparkling  papers,  the  "  Episodes  of  Eastern  Travel,"  which  lit  up  our  last 
November.  His  book  ("  The  Crescent  and  the  Cross  ")  must,  and  will  be 
capital. 


180  EOTHEN.  [CHAP.  xx. 

worldly  Sphynx  has  watched,  and  watched  like  a  Providence 
with  the  same  earnest  eyes,  and  the  same  sad,  tranquil  mien. 
And  we,  we  shall  die,  and  Islam  will  wither  away,  and  the 
Englishman,  leaning  far  over  to  hold  his  loved  India,  will  plant 
a  firm  foot  on  the  banks  of  the  Nile,  and  sit  in  the  seats  of  the 
Faithful,  and  still  that  sleepless  rock  will  lie  watching  and 
watching  the  works  of  the  new,  busy  race,  with  those  same  sad, 
earnest  eyes,  and  the  same  tranquil  mien  everlasting.  You 
dare  not  mock  at  the  Sphynx. 


CHAP,  xxi.]  CAIRO  TO  SUEZ.  181 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

Cairo  to  Suez. 

THE  "  Dromedary"  of  Egypt  and  Syria,  is  not  the  two-humped 
animal  described  by  that  name  in  books  of  natural  history,  but 
is  in  fact  of  the  same  family  as  the  camel,  to  which  it  stands  in 
about  the  same  relation  as  a  racer  to  a  cart-horse.  The  fleet- 
ness  and  endurance  of  this  creature  are  extraordinary.  It  is 
not  usual  to  force  him  into  a  gallop,  and  I  fancy  from  his  make 
that  it  would  be  quite  impossible  for  him  to  maintain  that  pace 
for  any  length  of  time,  but  the  animal  is  on  so  large  a  scale 
that  the  jog-trot  at  which  he  is  generally  ridden  implies  a  pro- 
gress of  perhaps  ten  or  twelve  miles  an  hour,  and  this  pace,  it 
is  said,  he  can  keep  up  incessantly  without  food,  or  water,  or 
rest,  for  three  whole  days  and  nights. 

Of  the  two  dromedaries  which  I  had  obtained  for  this  journey, 
I  mounted  one  myself,  and  put  Dthemetri  on  the  other.  My 
plan  was,  to  ride  on  with  Dthemetri  to  Suez  as  rapidly  as  the 
fleetness  of  the  beasts  would  allow,  and  to  let  Mysseri  (who  was 
still  weak  from  the  effects  of  his  late  illness)  come  quietly  on 
with  the  camels  and  baggage. 

The  trot  of  the  Dromedary  is  a  pace  terribly  disagreeable  to 
the  rider,  until  he  becomes  a  little  accustomed  to  it ;  but  after 
the  first  half  hour  I  so  far  schooled  myself  to  this  new  exercise, 
that  I  felt  capable  of  keeping  it  up  (though  not  without  aching 
limbs)  for  several  hours  together.  Now,  therefore,  I  was  anx- 
ious to  dart  forward,  and  annihilate  at  once  the  whole  space  that 
divided  me  from  the  Red  Sea.  Dthemetri,  however,  could  not 
get  on  at  all ;  every  attempt  which  he  made  to  trot  seemed  to 
threaten  the  utter  dislocation  of  his  whole  frame,  and  indeed  I 
doubt  whether  any  one  of  Dthemetri's  age  (nearly  forty  I  think) 
and  unaccustomed  to  such  exercise,  could  have  borne  it  at  all 


182  EOTHEN.  [CHAP.  xxi. 

easily ;  besides,  the  dromedary  which  fell  to  his  lot  was  evi- 
dently a  very  bad  one  ;  he  every  now  and  then  came  to  a  dead 
stop,  and  coolly  knelt  down  as  though  suggesting  that  the  rider 
had  better  get  off  at  once,  and  abandon  the  attempt  as  one  that 
was  utterly  hopeless. 

When  for  the  third  or  fourth  time  I  saw  Dthemetri  thus  planted, 
I  lost  my  patience,  and  went  on  without  him.  For  about  two  hours, 
I  think,  I  advanced  without  once  looking  behind  me.  I  then 
paused,  and  cast  my  eyes  back  to  the  western  horizon.  There 
was  no  sign  of  Dthemetri,  nor  of  any  other  living  creature. 
This  I  expected,  for  I  knew  that  I  must  have  far  out-distanced 
all  my  followers.  I  had  ridden  away  from  my  party  merely  by 
way  of  gratifying  my  impatience,  and  with  the  intention  of 
stopping  as  soon  as  I  felt  tired,  until  I  was  overtaken.  I  now 
observed,  however  (which  I  had  not  been  able  to  do  whilst  ad- 
vancing so  rapidly),  that  the  track  which  I  had  been  following 
was  seemingly  the  track  of  only  one  or  two  camels.  I  did  not 
fear  that  I  had  diverged  very  largely  from  the  true  route,  but 
still  I  could  not  feel  any  reasonable  certainty,  that  my  party 
would  follow  any  line  of  march  within  sight  of  me. 

I  had  to  consider,  therefore,  whether  I  should  remain  where  I 
was,  upon  the  chance  of  seeing  my  people  come  up,  or  whether 
I  would  push  on  alone,  and  find  my  way  to  Suez.  I  had  now 
learned  that  I  could  not  rely  upon  the  continued  guidance  of  any 
track,  but  I  knew  that  (if  maps  were  right)  the  point  for  which 
I  was  bound  bore  just  due  East  of  Cairo,  and  I  thought  that 
although  I  might  miss  the  line  leading  most  directly  to  Suez,  I 
could  not  well  fail  to  find  my  way  sooner  or  later  to  the  Red 
Sea.  The  worst  of  it  was  that  I  had  no  provision  of  food  or 
water  with  me,  and  already  I  was  beginning  to  feel  thirst.  I 
deliberated  for  a  minute,  and  then  determined  that  I  would 
abandon  all  hope  of  seeing  my  party  again  in  the  desert,  and 
would  push  forward  as  rapidly  as  possible  towards  Suez. 

It  was  not,  I  confess,  without  a  sensation  of  awe  that  I  swept 
with  my  sight  the  vacant  round  of  the  horizon,  and  remembered 
that  I  was  all  alone  and  unprovisioned  in  the  midst  of  the  arid 
waste ;  but  this  very  awe  gave  tone  and  zest  to  the  exultation 
with  which  I  felt  myself  launched.  Hitherto,  in  all  my  wander- 


CHAP,  xxi.]  CAIRO  TO  SUEZ.  183 

ings  I  had  been  under  the  care  of  other  people — sailors,  Tatars, 
guides  and  Dragomen  had  watched  over  my  welfare,  but  now  at 
last,  I  was  here  in  this  African  desert,  and  I  myself,  and  no  other, 
had  charge  of  my  life  ;  I  liked  the  office  well  ;  I  had  the  great- 
est part  of  the  day  before  me,  a  very  fair  dromedary,  a  fur  pe- 
lisse, and  a  brace  of  pistols,  but  no  bread,  and  no  water;  for 
that  I  must  ride, — and  ride  I  did. 

For  several  hours  I  urged,  forward  my  beast  at  a  rapid, 
though  steady  pace,  but  now  the  pangs  of  thirst  began  to  tor- 
ment me.  I  did  not  relax  my  pace,  however,  and  I  had  not  suf- 
fered long,  when  a  moving  object  appeared  in  the  distance  be- 
fore me.  The  intervening  space  was  soon  traversed,  and  I 
found  myself  approaching  a  Bedouin  Arab  mounted  on  a  camel, 
attended  by  another  Bedouin  on  foot.  They  stopped.  I  saw 
that,  as  usual,  there  hung  from  the  pack-saddle  of  the  camel,  a 
large  skin  water-flask  which  seemed  to  be  well  filled  ;  I  steered 
my  dromedary  close  up  alongside  of  the  mounted  Bedouin, 
caused  my  beast  to  kneel  down,  then  alighted,  and  keeping  the 
end  of  the  halter  in  my  hand,  went  up  to  the  mounted  Bedouin 
without  speaking,  took  hold  of  his  water-flask,  opened  it,  and 
drank  long  and  deep  from  its  leathern  lips.  Both  of  the  Be- 
douins stood  fast  in  amazement  and  mute  horror,  and  really  if 
they  had  never  happened  to  see  an  European  before,  the  appari- 
tion was  enough  to  startle  them.  To  see  for  the  first  time  a  coat 
and  a  waistcoat  with  the  pale  semblance  of  a  human  head  at 
the  top,  and  for  this  ghastly  figure  to  come  swiftly  out  of  the 
horizon,  upon  a  fleet  dromedary — approach  them  silently,  and 
with  a  demoniacal  smile,  and  drink  a  deep  draught  from  their 
water-flask — this  was  enough  to  make  the  Bedouins  stare  a 
little  :  they,  in  fact,  stared  a  great  deal — not  as  Europeans  stare, 
with  a  restless  and  puzzled  expression  of  countenance,  but  with 
features  all  fixed,  and  rigid,  and  with  still,  glassy  eyes ;  before 
they  had  time  to  get  decomposed  from  their  state  of  petrifaction,  I 
had  remounted  my  dromedary,  and  was  darting  away  towards 
the  East. 

Without  pause,  or  remission  of  pace,  I  continued  to  press  for- 
ward, but  after  a  while,  I  found  to  my  confusion,  that  the  slight 
track,  which  had  hitherto  guided  me,  now  failed  altogether ;  I 


184  EOTHEN.  [CHAP.  xxi. 

began  to  fear  that  I  must  have  been  all  along  following  the 
course  of  some  wandering  Bedouins,  and  I  felt  that  if  this  were 
the  case,  my  fate  was  a  little  uncertain.  To  comfort  myself,  I 
began  to  nurse  up  a  theory  that  death  by  thirst  was  not  so  terri- 
ble as  inexperienced  people  were  apt  to  imagine.  (Say  what 
you  will,  there  is  comfort  in  theories  ;  some  of  the  repudiating 
Americans  of  the  United  States  entertain  a  theory  that  they  are 
distinguishable  from  common  swindlers,  and  the  national  pride 
of  the  "young  Republic"  is  wholly  supported  by  the  indulgence 
of  this  singular  fancy.) 

I  had  no  compass  with  me,  but  I  determined  upon  the  eastern 
point  of  the  horizon  as  accurately  as  I  could,  by  reference  to  the 
sun,  and  so  laid  down  for  myself  a  way  over  the  pathless  sands. 

But  now  my  poor  dromedary,  by  whose  life  and  strength  I  held 
my  own,  she  began  to  show  signs  of  distress ;  a  thick,  clammy, 
and  glutinous  kind  of  foam  gathered  about  her  lips,  and  piteous 
sobs  burst  from  her  bosom  in  the  tones  of  human  misery  ;  I 
doubted  for  a  moment,  whether  I  would  give  her  a  little  rest,  or 
relaxation  of  pace,  but  I  decided  that  I  would  not,  and  continued 
to  push  forward  as  steadily  as  before. 

The  character  of  the  country  became  changed  ;  I  had  ridden 
away  from  the  level  tracts,  and  before  me  now,  and  on  either 
side,  there  were  vast  hills  of  sand,  and  calcined  rocks  that  inter- 
rupted my  progress,  and  baffled  my  doubtful  road,  but  I  did  my 
best;  with  rapid  steps  1  swept  round  the  base  of  the  hills, 
threaded  the  winding  hollows,  and  at  last,  as  I  rose  in  my  swift 
course  to  the  crest  of  a  lofty  ridge,  Thalatta !  Thalatta !  by 
Jove  !  I  saw  the  Sea ! 

My  tongue  can  tell  where  to  find  the  clue  to  many  an  old  pagan 
creed,  because  that  (distinctly  from  all  mere  admiration  of  the 
beauty  belonging.to  Nature's  works)  I  acknowledge  a  sense  of 
mystical  reverence,  when  first  I  look  to  see  some  illustrious 
feature  of  the  globe — some  coast-line  of  Ocean — some  mighty 
river  or  dreary  mountain  range,  the  ancient  barrier  of  kingdoms. 
But  the  Red  Sea !  It  might  well  claim  my  earnest  gaze  by  force 
of  the  great  Jewish  migration  which  connects  it  with  the  history 
of  our  own  Religion.  From  this  very  ridge,  it  is  likely  enough, 
the  panting  Israelites  first  saw  that  shining  inlet  of  the  sea.  Ay ! 


CHAP,  xxi.]  CAIRO  TO  SUEZ.  185 

ay !  but  moreover,  and  best  of  all,  that  beckoning  Sea  assured 
my  eyes,  and  proved  how  well  I  had  marked  out  the  East  for  my 
path,  and  gave  me  good  promise  that  sooner  or  later  the  time 
would  come  for  me  to  rest  and  drink.  It  was  distant,  the  Sea, 
but  I  felt  my  own  strength,  and  I  had  heard  of  the  strength  of 
dromedaries.  I  pushed  forward  as  eagerly  as  though  I  had 
spoiled  the  Egyptians,  and  were  flying  from  Pharaoh's  police. 

I  had  not  yet  been  able  to  discover  any  symptoms  of  Suez, 
but  after  a  while  I  descried  in  the  distance  a  large,  blank,  iso- 
lated building ;  I  made  towards  this,  and  in  time  got  down  to  it. 
The  building  was  a  fort,  and  had  been  built  there  for  the  protec- 
tion of  a  well,  which  it  contained  within  its  precincts.  A  cluster 
of  small  huts  adhered  to  the  fort,  and  in  a  short  time  I  was 
receiving  the  hospitality  of  the  inhabitants  who  were  grouped 
upon  the  sands  near  their  hamlet.  To  quench  the  fires  of  my 
throat  with  about  a  gallon  of  muddy  water,  and  to  swallow  a 
little  of  the  food  placed  before  me,  was  the  work  of  few  minutes, 
and  before  the  astonishment  of  my  hosts  had  even  begun  to  sub- 
side, I  was  pursuing  my  onward  journey.  Suez,  I  found,  was 
still  three  hours  distant,  and  the  Sun  going  down  in  the  West 
warned  me  that  I  must  find  some  other  guide  to  keep  me  in  the 
right  direction.  This  guide  I  found  in  the  most  fickle  and  un- 
certain of  the  elements.  For  some  hours  the  wind  had  been 
freshening,  and  it  now  blew  a  violent  gale  ;  it  blew  not  fitfully, 
and  in  squalls,  but  with  such  remarkable  steadiness  that  I  felt 
convinced  it  would  come  from  the  same  quarter  for  several 
hours.  When  the  Sun  set,  therefore,  I  carefully  looked  for  the 
point  from  which  the  wind  was  blowing,  and  found  that  it  came 
from  the  very  West,  and  was  blowing  exactly  in  the  direction  of 
my  route.  I  had  nothing  to  do  therefore  but  to  go  straight  to 
leeward,  and  this  was  not  difficult,  for  the  gale  blew  with  such 
immense  force  that  if  I  diverged  at  all  from  its  line  I  instantly 
felt  the  pressure  of  the  blast  on  the  side  towards  which  I  was 
deviating.  Very  soon  after  sun-set  there  came  on  complete 
darkness,  but  the  strong  wind  guided  me  well,  and  sped  me,  too, 
on  my  way. 

I  had  pushed  on  for  about,  I  think,  a  couple  of  hours  after 
night- fall,  when  I  saw  the  glimmer  of  a  light  in  the  distance,  and 


186  EOTHEN.  [CHAP.  xxi. 

this  I  ventured  to  hope  must  be  Suez.  Upon  approaching  it, 
however,  I  found  that  it  was  only  a  solitary  fort,  and  I  passed  on 
without  stopping. 

On  I  went,  still  riding  down  the  wind,  when  an  unlucky  acci- 
dent occurred,  for  which,  if  you  like,  you  can  have  your  laugh 
against  me.  I  have  told  you  already  what  sort  of  lodging  it  is 
which  you  have  upon  the  back  of  a  camel.  You  ride  the  drome- 
dary in  the  same  fashion  ;  you  are  perched  rather  than  seated 
upon  a  bunch  of  carpets  or  quilts  upon  the  summit  of  the  hump. 
It  happened  that  my  dromedary  veered  rather  suddenly  from  her 
onward  course ;  meeting  the  movement,  I  mechanically  turned 
my  left  wrist  as  though  I  were  holding  a  bridle  rein,  for  the  com- 
plete darkness  prevented  my  eyes  from  reminding  me  that  I  had 
nothing  but  a  halter  in  my  hand  ;  the  expected  resistance  failed, 
for  the  halter  was  hanging  upon  that  side  of  the  dromedary's 
neck  towards  which  I  was  slightly  leaning  ;  I  toppled  over,  head 
foremost,  and  then  went  falling  and  falling  through  air  till  my 
crown  came  whang  against  the  ground.  And  the  ground  too 
was  perfectly  hard  (compacted  sand),  but  the  thickly  wadded 
head-gear  which  I  wore  for  protection  against  the  sun  saved  my 
life.  The  notion  of  my  being  able  to  get  up  again  after  falling 
head-foremost  from  such  an  immense  height  seemed  to  me  at  first 
too  paradoxical  to  be  acted  upon,  but  I  soon  found  that  I  was  not 
a  bit  hurt.  My  dromedary  utterly  vanished  ;  I  looked  round  me 
and  saw  the  glimmer  of  a  light  in  the  fort  which  I  had  lately 
passed,  and  I  began  to  work  my  way  back  in  that  direction. 
The  violence  of  the  gale  made  it  hard  for  me  to  force  my  way 
towards  the  West,  but  I  succeeded  at  last  in  regaining  the  fort. 
To  this,  as  to  the  other  fort  which  I  had  passed,  there  was 
attached  a  cluster  of  huts,  and  I  soon  found  myself  surrounded 
by  a  group  of  villanous,  gloomy-looking  fellows.  It  was  a 
horrid  bore  for  me  to  have  to  swagger  and  look  big  at  a  time 
when  I  felt  so  particularly  small  on  account  of  my  tumble,  and 
my  lost  dromedary,  but  there  was  no  help  for  it ;  I  had  no 
Dthemetri  now  to  "strike  terror"  for  me.  I  knew  hardly  one 
word  of  Arabic,  but  somehow  or  other  I  contrived  to  announce 
it  as  my  absolute  will  and  pleasure  that  these  fellows  should  find 
me  the  means  of  gaming  Suez.  They  acceded,  and  having  a 


CHAP,  xxi.]  CAIRO  TO  SUEZ.  187 

donkey,  they  saddled  it  for  me,  and  appointed  one  of  their  num- 
ber to  attend  me  on  foot. 

I  afterwards  found  that  these  fellows  were  not  Arabs,  but 
Algerine  refugees,  and  that  they  bore  the  character  of  being  sad 
scoundrels.  They  justified  this  imputation  to  some  extent  on  the 
following  day.  They  allowed  Mysseri  with  my  baggage,  and 
the  camels,  to  pass  unmolested,  but  an  Arab  lad  belonging  to  the 
party  happened  to  lag  a  little  way  in  the  rear,  and  him  (if  they 
were  not  maligned)  these  rascals  stripped  and  robbed.  Low  in- 
deed is  the  state  of  bandit  morality,  when  men  will  allow  the 
sleek  traveller  with  well  laden  camels  to  pass  in  quiet,  reserving 
their  spirit  of  enterprise  for  the  tattered  turban  of  a  miserable 
boy. 

I  reached  Suez  at  last.  The  British  Agent,  though  roused 
from  his  midnight  sleep,  received  me  in  his  home  with  the  utmost 
kindness  and  hospitality.  Oh  !  by  Jove,  how  delightful  it  was  to 
lie  on  fair  sheets,  and  to  dally  with  sleep,  and  to  wake,  and  to 
sleep,  and  to  wake  once  more,  for  the  sake  of  sleeping  again  ! 


158  EOTHEN.  [CHAP.  xxn. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 


I  WAS  hospitably  entertained  by  the  British  Consul  or  Agent,  as  he 
is  there  styled ;  he  is  the  employe  of  the  East  India  Company, 
and  not  of  the  Home  Government.  Napoleon,  during  his  stay  of 
five  days  at  Suez,  had  been  the  guest  of  the  Consul's  father,  and 
I  was  told  that  the  divan  in  my  apartment  had  been  the  bed  of 
the  great  Commander. 

There  are  two  opinions  as  to  the  point  at  which  the  Israelites 
passed  the  Red  Sea  ;  one  is  that  they  traversed  only  the  very 
small  creek  at  the  Northern  extremity  of  the  inlet,  and  that  they 
entered  the  bed  of  the  water  at  the  spot  on  which  Suez  now 
stands — the  other  that  they  crossed  the  sea  from  a  point  eighteen 
miles  down  the  coast.  The  Oxford  theologians  who,  with  Mil- 
man  their  Professor,*  believe  that  Jehovah  conducted  his  chosen 
people  without  disturbing  the  order  of  Nature,  adopt  the  first 
view,  and  suppose  that  the  Israelites  passed  during  an  ebb  tide 
aided  by  a  violent  wind.  One  among  many  objections  to  this 
supposition  is,  that  the  time  of  a  single  ebb  would  not  have  been 
sufficient  for  the  passage  of  that  vast  multitude  of  men  and 
beasts,  or  even  for  a  small  fraction  of  it.  Moreover  the  creek 
to  the  north  of  this  point  can  be  compassed  in  an  hour,  and  in 
two  hours  you  can  make  the  circuit  of  the  salt  marsh  over  which 
the  sea  may  have  extended  in  former  times ;  if  therefore  the 
Israelites  crossed  so  high  up  as  Suez,  the  Egyptians,  unless  in- 
fatuated by  divine  interference,  might  easily  have  recovered  their 
stolen  goods  from  the  encumbered  fugitives,  by  making  a  slight 
detour.  The  opinion  which  fixes  the  point  of  passage  at  eighteen 
miles  distance,  and  from  thence  right  across  the  Ocean  depths  to 

*  See  Milman's  History  of  the  Jews.     1st  Edit.  Family  Library. 


CHAP.    XXII.]  SUEZ. 


the  Eastern  side  of  the  sea,  is  supported  by  the  unanimous  tra- 
dition of  the  people,  whether  Christians  or  Mussulmans,  and  is 
consistent  with  Holy  writ ;  "  the  waters  were  a  wall  unto  them 
on  their  right  hand,  and  on  their  left"  The  Cambridge  Mathe- 
maticians seem  to  think  that  the  Israelites  were  enabled  to  pass 
over  dry  land  by  adopting  a  route  not  usually  subject  to  the 
influx  of  the  Sea  ;  this  notion  is  plausible  in  a  merely  hydrosta- 
tical  point  of  view,  and  is  supposed  to  have  been  adopted  by 
most  of  the  fellows  of  Trinity,  but  certainly  not  by  Thorp,  who 
is  one  of  the  most  amiable  of  their  number ;  it  is  difficult  to 
reconcile  this  theory  with  the  account  given  in  Exodus,  unless 
we  can  suppose  that  the  words  "  sea"  and  "  waters  "  are  there 
used  in  a  sense  implying  dry  land. 

Napoleon,  when  at  Suez,  made  an  attempt  to  follow  the  sup- 
posed steps  of  Moses  by  passing  the  creek  at  this  point,  but  it 
seems,  according  to  the  testimony  of  the  people  at  Suez,  that  he 
and  his  horsemen  managed  the  matter  in  a  way  more  resembling 
the  failure  of  the  Egyptians,  than  the  success  of  the  Israelites. 
According  to  the  French  account,  Napoleon  got  out  of  the  diffi- 
culty by  that  warrior-like  presence  of  mind  which  served  him 
so  well  when  the  fate  of  nations  depended  on  the  decision  of  a 
moment ;  he  ordered  his  horsemen  to  disperse  in  all  directions, 
in  order  to  multiply  the  chances  of  finding  shallow  water,  and 
was  thus  enabled  to  discover  a  line  by  which  he  and  his  people 
were  extricated.  The  story  told  by  the  people  of  Suez  is  very 
different ;  they  declare  that  Napoleon  parted  from  his  horse,  got 
thoroughly  submerged,  and  was  only  fished  put  by  the  assistance 
of  the  people  on  shore. 

I  bathed  twice  at  the  point  assigned  to  the  passage  of  the 
Israelites,  and  the  second  time  that  I  did  so,  I  chose  the  time  of 
low  water,  and  tried  to  walk  across,  but  I  soon  found  myself  out 
of  my  depth,  or  at  least  in  water  so  deep  that  I  could  only 
advance  by  swimming. 

The  dromedary  which  had  bolted  into  the  Desert,  was  brought 
into  Suez  the  day  after  my  arrival,  but  my  pelisse  and  my  pis- 
tols, which  had  been  attached  to  the  saddle,  had  disappeared  ; 
these  articles  were  treasures  of  great  importance  to  me  at  that 
time,  and  I  moved  the  Governor  of  the  town  to  make  all  possible 


190  EOTHEN.  [CHAP.  xxii. 

exertions  for  their  recovery  ;  he  acceded  to  my  wishes  as  well 
as  he  could,  and  very  obligingly  imprisoned  the  first  seven  poor 
fellows  he  could  lay  his  hands  on. 

At  first  the  Governor  acted  in  the  matter  from  no  other  mo- 
tive than  that  of  courtesy  to  an  English  traveller,  but  afterwards, 
and  when  he  saw  the  value  which  I  set  upon  the  lost  property, 
he  pushed  his  measures  with  a  degree  of  alacrity  and  heat, 
which  seemed  to  show  that  he  felt  a  personal  interest  in  the  mat- 
ter ;  it  was  supposed  either  that  he  expected  a  large  present  in 
the  event  of  succeeding,  or  that  he  was  striving  by  all  means  to 
trace  the  property  in  order  that  he  might  lay  his  hands  on  it  after 
my  departure. 

I  went  out  sailing  for  some  hours,  and  when  I  returned  I  was 
horrified  to  find  that  two  men  had  been  bastinadoed  by  order  of 
the  Governor,  with  a  view  to  force  them  to  a  confession  of  their 
theft.  It  appeared,  however,  that  there  really  was  good  ground 
for  supposing  them  guilty,  since  one  of  the  holsters  was  actually 
found  in  their  possession.  It  was  said,  too  (but  I  could  hardly 
believe  it),  that  whilst  one  of  the  men  was  undergoing  the  bas- 
tinado, his  comrade  was  overheard  encouraging  him  to  bear  the 
torment  without  peaching.  Both  men,  if  they  had  the  secret, 
were  resolute  in  keeping  it,  and  were  sent  back  to  their  dungeon. 
I,  of  course,  took  care  that  there  should  be  no  repetition  of  the 
torture,  at  least  as  long  as  I  remained  at  Suez. 

The  Governor  was  a  thorough  Oriental,  and  until  a  com- 
paratively recent  period  had  shared  in  the  old  Mahometan  feel- 
ing of  contempt  for  Europeans.  It  happened,  however,  one  day 
that  an  English  gun-brig  had  appeared  off  Suez,  and  sent  her 
boats  ashore  to  take  in  fresh  water.  Now  fresh  water  at  Suez 
is  a  somewhat  scarce  and  precious  commodity  ;  it  is  kept  in 
tanks,  the  chief  of  which  is  at  some  distance  from  the  place. 
Under  these  circumstances  the  request  for  fresh  water  was 
refused,  or  at  all  events  was  not  complied  with.  The  Cap- 
tain of  the  brig  was  a  simple-minded  man,  with  a  strongish 
will,  and  he  at  once  declared  that  if  his  casks  were  not  filled 
in  three  hours,  he  would  destroy  the  whole  place.  "  A  great 
people  indeed  !"  said  the  Governor — "  a  wonderful  people,  the 
English !"  He  instantly  caused  every  cask  to  be  filled  to  the 


CHAP,  xxn.]  SUEZ. 


brim  from  his  own  tank,  and  ever  afterwards  entertained  for  the 
English  a  degree  of  affection  and  respect  for  which  I  felt  in- 
finitely indebted  to  the  gallant  Captain. 

The  day  after  the  abortive  attempt  to  extract  a  confession 
from  the  prisoners,  the  Governor,  the  Consul  and  I,  sat  in  Council, 
I  know  not  how  long,  with  a  view  of  prosecuting  the  search  for 
the  stolen  goods.  The  sitting,  considered  in  the  light  of  a  crim- 
inal investigation,  was  characteristic  of  the  East.  The  proceed- 
ings began  as  a  matter  of  course  by  the  Prosecutor's  smoking  a 
pipe,  and  drinking  coffee  with  the  Governor,  who  was  Judge, 
Jury,  and  Sheriff.  I  got  on  very  well  with  him  (this  was  not 
my  first  interview),  and  he  gave  me  the  pipe  from  his  lips  in 
testimony  of  his  friendship.  I  recollect,  however,  that  my  prime 
adviser,  thinking  me,  I  suppose,  a  great  deal  too  shy  and  retiring 
in  my  manner,  entreated  me  to  put  up  my  boots,  and  to  soil  the 
Governor's  divan,  in  order  to  inspire  respect,  and  strike  terror. 
I  thought  it  would  be  as  well  for  me  to  retain  the  right  of  res- 
pecting myself,  and  that  it  was  not  quite  necessary  for  a  well 
received  guest  to  strike  any  terror  at  all. 

Our  deliberations  were  assisted  by  the  numerous  attendants 
who  lined  the  three  sides  of  the  room  not  occupied  by  the  divan. 
Any  one  of  these  who  took  it  into  his  head  to  offer  a  suggestion, 
would  stand  forward,  and  humble  himself  before  the  Governor, 
and  then  state  his  views,  which  were  always  more  or  less  attend- 
ed to. 

After  a  great  deal  of  fruitless  planning,  the  Governor  directed 
that  the  prisoners  should  be  brought  in.  I  was  shocked  when 
they  entered,  for  I  was  not  prepared  to  see  them  come  carried 
into  the  room  upon  the  shoulders  of  others.  It  had  not  occurred 
to  me  that  their  battered  feet  would  be  too  sore  to  bear  the  con- 
tact of  the  floor.  They  persisted  in  asserting  their  innocence. 
The  Governor  wanted  to  recur  to  the  torture,  but  that  I  pre- 
vented, and  the  men  were  carried  back  to  their  dungeon. 

A  scheme  was  now  suggested  by  one  of  the  attendants  which 
seemed  to  me  childishly  absurd,  but  it  was  nevertheless  tried. 
The  plan  was  to  send  a  man  to  the  prisoners,  who  was  to  make 
them  believe  that  he  had  obtained  entrance  into  their  dungeon 
upon  some  other  pretence,  but  that  he  had  in  reality  come  to 


192  EOTHEN.  [CHAP.  xxn. 

treat  with  them  for  the  purchase  of  the  stolen  goods.  This 
shallow  expedient  of  course  failed. 

The  Governor  himself  had  not  nominally  the  power  of  life 
and  death  over  the  people  in  his  district,  but  he  could  if  he  chose 
send  them  to  Cairo,  and  have  them  hanged  there.  I  proposed 
therefore  that  the  prisoners  should  be  threatened  with  this  fate. 
The  answer  of  the  Governor  made  me  feel  rather  ashamed  of 
my  effeminate  suggestion;  he  said  that  if  I  wished  it  he  would 
willingly  threaten  them  with  death,  but  he  also  said  that  if  he 
threatened,  he  should  execute  the  threat. 

Thinking  at  last  that  nothing  was  to  be  gained  by  keeping  the 
prisoners  any  longer  in  confinement,  I  requested  that  they  might 
be  set  free.  To  this  the  Governor  acceded,  though  only,  as  he 
said,  out  of  favor  to  me,  for  he  had  a  strong  impression  that  the 
men  were  guilty.  I  went  down  to  see  the  prisoners  let  out  with 
my  own  eyes.  They  were  very  grateful,  and  fell  down  to  the 
earth,  kissing  my  boots.  I  gave  them  a  present  to  console  them 
for  their  wounds,  and  they  seemed  to  be  highly  delighted. 

Although  the  matter  terminated  in  a  manner  so  satisfactory  to 
the  principal  sufferers,  there  were  symptoms  of  some  angry  ex- 
citement in  the  place  ;  it  was  said  that  public  opinion  was  much 
shocked  at  the  fact  that  Mahometans  had  been  beaten  on  ac- 
count of  a  loss  sustained  by  a  Christian.  My  journey  was  to 
recommence  the  next  day,  and  it  was  hinted  that  if  I  persever- 
ed in  my  intention  of  proceeding,  the  people  would  have  an 
easy  and  profitable  opportunity  of  wreaking  their  vengeance  on 
me.  If  ever  they  formed  any  scheme  of  the  kind,  they  at  all 
events  refrained  from  any  attempt  to  carry  it  into  effect. 

One  of  the  evenings  during  my  stay  at  Suez  was  enlivened 
by  a  triple  wedding.  There  was  a  long  and  slow  procession. 
Some  carried  torches,  and  others  were  thumping  drums,  and 
firing  pistols.  The  bridegrooms  came  last,  all  walking  abreast ; 
my  only  reason  for  mentioning  the  ceremony  (which  was  other- 
wise uninteresting)  is  that  I  scarcely  ever  in  all  my  life  saw  any 
phenomena  so  ridiculous,  as  the  meekness  and  gravity  of  those 
three  young  men,  whilst  being  "  led  to  the  altar." 


CHAP,  xxiii.]  SUEZ  TO  GAZA.  193 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

Suez  to  Gaza. 

THE  route  over  the  Desert  from  Suez  to  Gaza  is  not  frequented 
by  merchants,  and  is  seldom  passed  by  a  traveller.  This  part 
of  the  country  is  less  uniformly  barren  than  the  tracts  of  shifting 
sand  which  lie  on  the  El  Arish  route.  The  shrubs  on  which  the 
camels  feed  are  more  frequent,  and  there  are  many  spots  on 
which  the  sand  is  mingled  with  so  much  of  productive  soil  as  to 
admit  the  growth  of  corn.  The  Bedouins  are  driven  out  of  this 
district  during  the  summer  by  the  total  want  of  water,  but  be- 
fore the  time  for  their  forced  departure  arrives,  they  succeed  in 
raising  little  crops  of  barley  from  these  comparatively  fertile 
patches  of  ground  ;  they  bury  the  fruit  of  their  labors,  leaving 
marks  by  which,  upon  their  return,  they  may  be  able  to  recog- 
nize the  spot.  The  warm  dry  sand  stands  them  for  a  safe  gra- 
nary. The  country,  at  the  time  I  passed  it  (in  the  month  of 
April),  was  pretty  thickly  sprinkled  with  Bedouins  expecting 
their  harvest ;  several  times  my  tent  was  pitched  along  side  of 
their  encampments ;  I  have  told  you  already  what  the  impres- 
sions were  which  these  people  produced  upon  my  mind. 

I  saw  several  creatures  of  the  antelope  kind  in  this  part  of  the 
Desert,  and  one  day  my  Arabs  surprised  in  her  sleep,  a  young 
gazelle  (for  so  I  call  her),  and  took  the  darling  prisoner.  I 
carried  her  before  me  on  my  camel  for  the  rest  of  the  day,  and 
kept  her  in  my  tent  all  night ;  I  did  all  I  could  to  coax  her,  but 
the  trembling  beauty  refused  to  touch  food,  and  would  not  be 
comforted  ;  whenever  she  had  a  seeming  opportunity  of  escap- 
ing, she  struggled  with  a  violence  so  painfully  disproportioned 
to  her  fine,  delicate  limbs,  that  I  could  not  continue  the  cruel 
attempt  to  make  her  my  own.  In  the  morning,  therefore,  I  set 
her  free,  anticipating  some  pleasure  from  seeing  the  joyous 
14 


194  EOTHEN.  [CHAP.  xxm. 

bound  with  which,  as  I  thought,  she  would  return  to  her  native 
freedom.  She  had  been  so  stupefied,  however,  by  the  exciting 
events  of  the  preceding  day  and  night,  and  was  so  puzzled  as 
to  the  road  she  should  take,  that  she  went  off  very  deliberately, 
and  with  an  uncertain  step.  She  went  away  quite  sound  in 
limb,  but  her  intellect  may  have  been  upset.  Never,  in  all 
likelihood,  had  she  seen  the  form  of  a  human  being,  until  the 
dreadful  moment  when  she  woke  from  her  sleep,  and  found  her- 
self in  the  gripe  of  an  Arab.  Then  her  pitching  and  tossing 
journey  on  the  back  of  a  camel,  and  lastly,  a  soiree  with  me 
by  candlelight !  I  should  have  been  glad  to  know,  if  I  could, 
that  her  heart  was  not  utterly  broken. 

My  Arabs  were  somewhat  excited  one  day  by  discovering  the 
fresh  print  of  a  foot — the  foot,  as  they  said,  of  a  lion.  I  had  no 
conception  that  the  Lord  of  the  forest  (better  known  as  a  crest) 
ever  stalked  away  from  his  jungles  to  make  inglorious  war  in 
these  smooth  plains  against  antelopes  and  gazelles.  I  supposed 
that  there  must  have  been  some  error  of  interpretation,  and  that 
the  Arabs  meant  to  speak  of  a  tiger.  It  appeared,  however, 
that  this  was  not  the  case  ;  either  the  Arabs  were  mistaken,  or 
the  noble  brute,  uncooped  and  unchained,  had  but  lately  crossed 
my  path. 

The  camels  with  which  I  traversed  this  part  of  the  Desert, 
were  very  different  in  their  ways  and  habits  from  those  which 
you  get  on  a  frequented  route.  They  were  never  led.  There 
was  not  the  slightest  sign  of  a  track  in  this  part  of  the  Desert, 
but  the  camels  never  failed  to  choose  the  right  line.  By  the 
direction  taken  at  starting,  they  knew,  I  suppose,  the  point  (some 
encampment)  for  which  they  were  to  make.  There  is  always  a 
leading  camel  (generally,  I  believe,  the  eldest),  who  marches 
foremost  and  determines  the  path  for  the  whole  party.  If  it 
happens  that  no  one  of  the  camels  has  been  accustomed  to  lead 
the  others,  there  is  very  great  difficulty  in  making  a  start ;  if  you 
force  your  beast  forward  for  a  moment  he  will  contrive  to  wheel 
and  draw  back,  at  the  same  time  looking  at  one  of  the  other 
camels  with  an  expression  and  gesture  exactly  equivalent  to 
"  apres  vous."  The  responsibility  of  finding  the  way  is  evi- 
dently assumed  very  unwillingly.  After  some  time,  however, 


CHAP,  xxm.]  SUEZ  TO  GAZA.  195 

it  becomes  understood  that  one  of  the  beasts  has  reluctantly  con- 
sented to  take  the  lead,  and  he  accordingly  advances  for  that 
purpose.  For  a  minute  or  two  he  goes  on  with  much  indecision, 
taking  first  one  line  and  then  another,  but  soon,  by  the  aid  of 
some  mysterious  sense,  he  discovers  the  true  direction  and  fol- 
lows it  steadily  from  morning  to  night.  When  once  the  leader- 
ship is  established,  you  cannot  by  any  persuasion,  and  can 
scarcely  by  any  force,  induce  a  junior  camel  to  walk  one  single 
step  in  advance  of  the  chosen  guide. 

On  the  fifth  day  I  came  to  an  Oasis,  called  the  Wady  el  Arish, 
a  ravine,  or  rather  a  gully,  through  which  during  a  part  of  the 
year  there  runs  a  stream  of  water.  On  the  sides  of  the  gully 
there  were  a  number  of  those  graceful  trees  which  the  Arabs 
call  Tarfa.  The  channel  of  the  stream  was  quite  dry  in  the 
part  at  which  we  arrived,  but  at  about  half  a  mile  off  some 
water  was  found,  which,  though  very  muddy,  was  tolerably 
sweet.  This  was  a  happy  discovery,  for  the  water  which  we 
had  brought  from  the  neighborhood  of  Suez  was  rapidly  putri- 


The  want  of  foresight  is  an  anomalous  part  of  the  Bedouin's 
character,  for  it  does  not  result  either  from  recklessness  or  stu- 
pidity. I  know  of  no  human  being  whose  body  is  so  thoroughly 
the  slave  of  mind  as  that  of  the  Arab.  His  mental  anxieties 
seem  to  be  for  ever  torturing  every  nerve  and  fibre  of  his  body, 
and  yet  with  all  this  exquisite  sensitiveness  to  the  suggestions  of 
the  mind,  he  is  grossly  improvident.  I  recollect,  for  instance, 
that  when  setting  out  upon  this  passage  of  the  Desert,  my  Arabs, 
in  order  to  lighten  the  burthen  of  their  camels,  were  most  anx- 
ious that  we  should  take  with  us  only  two  days'  supply  of  water. 
They  said  that  by  the  time  that  supply  was  exhausted,  we  should 
arrive  at  a  spring  which  would  furnish  us  for  the  rest  of  the 
journey.  My  servants  very  wisely,  and  with  much  pertinacity,. 
resisted  the  adoption  of  this  plan,  and  took  care  to  have  both 
the  large  skins  well  filled.  We  proceeded,  and  found  no  water 
at  all,  either  at  the  expected  spring,  or  for  many  days  after- 
wards, so  that  nothing  but  the  precaution  of  my  own  people 
saved  us  from  the  very  severe  suffering  which  we  should  have 
endured  if  we  had  entered  upon  the  Desert  with  only  a  two  days' 


196  EOTHEN.  [CHAP.  xxm. 

supply.  The  Arabs  themselves  being  on  foot  would  have  suf- 
fered much  more  than  I  from  the  consequences  of  their  im- 
providence. 

This  unaccountable  want  of  foresight  prevents  the  Bedouin 
from  appreciating  at  a  distance  of  eight  or  ten  days  the  amount 
of  the  misery  which  he  entails  upon  himself  at  the  end  of  that 
period.  The  Bedouin's  dread  of  a  city  is  one  of  the  most  pain- 
ful mental  affections  that  I  have  ever  observed,  and  yet  when 
the  whole  breadth  of  the  Desert  lies  between  him  and  the  town 
to  which  you  are  going,  he  will  freely  enter  into  an  agreement  to 
land  you  in  the  city  for  which  you  are  bound.  When,  however, 
after  many  a  day  of  toil,  the  distant  minarets  at  length  appear, 
the  poor  Bedouin  relaxes  the  vigor  of  his  pace — his  step  becomes 
faltering  and  undecided — every  moment  his  uneasiness  increases, 
and  at  length  he  fairly  sobs  aloud,  and  embracing  your  knees, 
implores  with  the  most  piteous  cries  and  gestures,  that  you  will 
dispense  with  him  and  his  camels  and  find  some  other  means  of 
entering  the  city.  This,  of  course,  one  can't  agree  to,  and  the 
consequence  is,  that  one  is  obliged  to  witness  and  resist  the  most 
moving  expressions  of  grief  and  fond  entreaty.  I  had  to  go 
through  a  most  painful  scene  of  this  kind  when  I  entered  Cairo, 
and  now  the  horror  which  these  wilder  Arabs  felt  at  the  notion  of 
entering  Gaza  led  to  consequences  still  more  distressing.  The 
dread  of  cities  results  partly  from  a  kind  of  wild  instinct  which 
has  always  characterized  the  descendants  of  Ishmael,  but  partly 
too,  from  a  well-founded  apprehension  of  ill-treatment.  So  often 
it  happens  that  the  poor  Bedouin,  when  once  jammed  in  between 
walls,  is  seized  by  the  Government  authorities  for  the  sake  of  his 
camels,  that  his  innate  horror  of  cities  becomes  really  well  jus- 
tified by  results. 

The  Bedouins  with  whom  I  performed  this  journey  were  wild 
fellows  of  the  Desert,  quite  unaccustomed  to  let  out  themselves 
and  their  beasts  for  hire,  and  when  they  found  that  by  the  natural 
ascendency  of  Europeans  they  were  gradually  brought  down  to 
a  state  of  subserviency  to  me,  or  rather  to  my  attendants,  they 
bitterly  repented,  I  believe,  of  having  placed  themselves  under 
our  control.  They  were  rather  difficult  fellows  to  manage,  and 
gave  Dthemetri  a  good  deal  of  trouble,  but  I  liked  them  all  the 
better  for  that. 


CHAP,  xxiii.]  SUEZ  TO  GAZA.  197 

Selim,  the  chief  of  the  party  and  the  man  to  whom  all  our 
camels  belonged,  was  a  fine,  wild,  stately  fellow  ;  there  were,  I 
think,  five  other  Arabs  of  the  party,  but  when  we  approached  the 
end  of  the  journey,  they,  one  by  one,  began  to  make  oft'  towards 
the  neighboring  encampments,  and  by  the  time  that  the  minarets 
of  Gaza  were  ift  sight,  Selim,  the  owner  of  the  camels,  was  the 
only  one  who  remained ;  he,  poor  fellow,  as  we  neared  the 
Town,  began  to  discover  the  same  terrors  that  my  Arabs  had 
shown  when  I  entered  Cairo.  I  could  not  possibly  accede  to  his 
entreaties  and  consent  to  let  my  baggage  be  laid  down  on  the 
bare  sands,  without  any  means  of  having  it  brought  on  into  the 
city.  So  at  length  when  poor  Selim  had  exhausted  all  his  rhe- 
toric of  voice  and  action  and  tears,  he  fixed  his  despairing  eyes 
for  a  minute  upon  the  cherished  beasts  that  were  his  only  wealth, 
and  then  wildly  and  suddenly  dashed  away  into  the  farther 
Desert.  1  continued  my  course  and  reached  the  city  at  last,  but 
it  was  not  without  immense  difficulty  that  we  could  constrain  the 
poor  camels  to  pass  under  the  hated  shadow  of  its  walls.  They 
were  the  genuine  beasts  of  the  Desert,  and  it  was  sad  and  painful 
to  witness  the  agony  which  they  suffered  when  thus  they  were 
forced  to  encounter  the  fixed  habitations  of  men ;  they  shrank 
from  the  beginning  of  every  high  narrow  street,  as  though  from 
the  entrance  of  some  horrible  cave,  or  bottomless  pit ;  they 
sighed  and  wept  like  women.  When  at  last  we  got  them  within 
the  court-yard  of  the  Khan,  they  seemed  to  be  quite  broken-hearted, 
and  looked  round  piteously  for  their  loving  master,  but  no  Selim 
came.  I  had  imagined  that  he  would  enter  the  town  secretly 
by  night,  in  order  to  carry  off  those  five  fine  camels,  his  only 
wealth  in  this  world,  and  seemingly  the  main  objects  of  his  affec- 
tion. But  no — his  dread  of  civilisation  was  too  strong  ;  during 
the  whole  of  the  three  days  that  I  remained  at  Gaza,  he  failed 
to  show  himself,  and  thus  sacrificed,  in  all  probability,  not  only 
his  camels  but  the  money  which  I  had  stipulated  to  pay  him  for 
the  passage  of  the  Desert.  In  order,  however,  to  do  all  I  could 
towards  saving  him  from  this  last  misfortune,  I  resorted  to  a 
contrivance  which  is  frequently  adopted  by  the  Asiatics.  I 
assembled  a  group  of  grave  and  worthy  Mussulmans  in  the 
court-yard  of  the  Khan,  and  in  their  presence  paid  over  the 


198  EOTHEN.  [CHAP.  xxiu. 

gold  to  a  Sheik  who  was  accustomed  to  communicate  with  the 
Arabs  of  the  Desert.  All  present  solemnly  promised  that  if 
ever  Selim  should  come  to  claim  his  rights  they  would  bear 
true  witness  in  his  favor. 

I  saw  a  great  deal  of  my  old  friend  the  Governor  of  Gaza. 
He  had  received  orders  to  send  back  all  persons  coming  from 
Egypt,  and  force  them  to  perform  quarantine  at  El  Arish  ;  he 
knew  so  little  of  quarantine  regulations,  however,  that  his  dress 
was  actually  in  contact  with  mine,  whilst  he  insisted  upon  the 
stringency  of  the  orders  which  he  had  received.  He  was  in- 
duced to  make  an  exception  in  my  favor,  and  I  rewarded  him 
with  a  musical  snuff-box  which  I  had  bought  at  Smyrna,  for  the 
purpose  of  presenting  it  to  any  man  in  authority  who  might  hap- 
pen to  do  me  an  important  service.  The  Governor  was  im- 
mensely delighted  with  this  toy,  and  took  it  off  to  his  harem  with 
great  exultation  ;  he  soon,  however,  returned  with  an  altered 
countenance  ;  his  wives,  he  said,  had  got  hold  of  the  box,  and  put 
it  out  of  order.  So  short-lived  is  human  happiness  in  this  frail 
world ! 

The  Governor  fancied  that  he  should  incur  less  risk  if  I  re- 
mained at  Gaza  for  two  or  three  days  more,  and  he  wanted  me 
to  become  his  guest ;  I  persuaded  him,  however,  that  it  would  be 
better  for  him  to  let  me  depart  at  once ;  he  wanted  to  add  to  my 
baggage  a  roast  lamb,  and  a  quantity  of  other  cumbrous  viands, 
but  I  escaped  with  half  a  horse-load  of  leaven  bread,  which  was 
very  good  of  its  kind,  and  proved  a  most  useful  present.  The 
air  with  which  the  Governor's  slaves  affected  to  be  almost  break- 
ing down  under  the  weight  of  the  gifts  which  they  bore  on  their 
shoulders,  reminded  me  of  the  figures  one  sees  in  some  of  the  old 
pictures. 


CHAP,  xxiv.]  GAZA  TO  NABLOUS.  199 


CHAPTER   XXIV. 

Gaza  to  Nablous. 

PASSING  now  once  again  through  Palestine  and  Syria,  I  retained 
the  tent  which  I  had  used  in  the  Desert,  and  found  that  it  added 
very  much  to  my  comfort  in  travelling.  Instead  of  turning  out 
a  family  from  some  wretched  dwelling,  and  depriving  them  of  a 
repose  which  I  was  sure  not  to  find  for  myself,  I  now,  when 
evening  came,  pitched  my  tent  upon  some  smiling  spot  within  a 
few  hundred  yards  of  the  village  to  which  I  looked  for  my  sup- 
plies— that  is,  for  milk  and  bread,  if  I  had  it  not  with  me,  and 
sometimes  also  for  eggs.  The  worst  of  it  is,  that  the  needful 
viands  are  not  to  be  obtained  by  coin,  but  only  by  intimidation. 
I  at  first  tried  the  usual  agent — money  ;  Dthemetri,  with  one  or 
two  of  my  Arabs,  went  into  the  village  near  which  I  was  en- 
camped, and  tried  to  buy  the  required  provisions,  offering  liberal 
payment,  but  he  came  back  empty-handed.  I  sent  him  again, 
but  this  time  he  held  different  language  ;  he  required  to  see  the 
elders  of  the  place,  and  threatening  dreadful  vengeance,  directed 
them  upon  their  responsibility  to  take  care  that  my  tent  should 
be  immediately  and  abundantly  supplied.  He  was  obeyed  at 
once,  and  the  provisions  which  had  been  refused  to  me  as  a 
purchaser  soon  arrived,  trebled,  or  quadrupled,  when  demanded 
by  way  of  a  forced  contribution.  I  quickly  found  (I  think  it  re- 
quired two  experiments  to  convince  me)  that  this  peremptory 
method  was  the  only  one  which  could  be  adopted  with  success ; 
it  never  failed.  Of  course,  however,  when  the  provisions  have 
been  actually  obtained,  you  can,  if  you  choose,  give  money  ex- 
ceeding the  value  of  the  provisions  to  somebody  ;  an  English — a 
thorough-bred  English  traveller  will  always  do  this  (though  it  is 
contrary  to  the  custom  of  the  country),  for  the  quiet  (false  quiet 
though  it  be)  of  his  own  conscience,  but  so  to  order  the  matter, 


200  EOTHEN.  [CHAP.  xxiv. 

that  the  poor  fellows  who  have  been  forced  to  contribute,  should 
be  the  persons  to  receive  the  value  of  their  supplies,  is  not  pos- 
sible ;  for  a  traveller  to  attempt  anything  so  grossly  just  as  that, 
would  be  too  outrageous.  The  truth  is,  that  the  usage  of  the 
East,  in  old  times,  required  the  people  of  a  village,  at  their  own 
cost,  to  supply  the  wants  of  travellers,  and  the  ancient  custom 
is  now  adhered  to,  not  in  favor  of  travellers  generally,  but  in 
favor  of  those  who  are  deemed  sufficiently  powerful  to  enforce 
its  observance ;  if  the  villagers,  therefore,  find  a  man  waiving 
this  right  to  oppress  them,  and  offering  coin  for  that  which  he  is 
entitled  to  take  without  payment,  they  suppose  at  once  that  he  is 
actuated  by  fear  (fear  of  them,  poor  fellows  !)  and  it  is  so  delight- 
ful to  them  to  act  upon  this  flattering  assumption,  that  they  will 
forego  the  advantage  of  a  good  price  for  their  provisions,  rather 
than  the  rare  luxury  of  refusing  for  once  in  their  lives  to  part 
with  their  own  property. 

The  practice  of  intimidation,  thus  rendered  necessary,  is 
utterly  hateful  to  an  Englishman ;  he  finds  himself  forced  to 
conquer  his  daily  bread  by  the  pompous  threats  of  the  Drago- 
man, his  very  subsistence,  as  well  as  his  dignity  and  personal 
safety,  being  made  to  depend  upon  his  servants  assuming  a  tone 
of  authority  which  does  not  at  all  belong  to  him.  Besides,  he 
can  scarcely  fail  to  see,  that  as  he  passes  through  the  country, 
he  becomes  the  innocent  cause  of  much  extra  injustice — many 
supernumerary  wrongs.  This  he  feels  to  be  especially  the  case 
when  he  travels  with  relays.  To  be  the  owner  of  a  horse  or  a 
mule,  within  reach  of  an  Asiatic  potentate,  is  to  lead  the  life  of 
the  hare  and  the  rabbit — hunted  down  and  ferreted  out.  Too 
often  it  happens  that  the  works  of  the  field  are  stopped  in  the  day- 
time, that  the  inmates  of  the  cottage  are  roused  from  their  mid- 
night sleep  by  the  sudden  coming  of  a  Government  officer,  and 
the  poor  husbandman,  driven  by  threats  and  rewarded  by  curses, 
if  he  would  not  lose  sight  for  ever  of  his  captured  beasts,  must 
quit  all  and  follow  them ;  this  is  done  that  the  Englishman  may 
travel ;  he  would  make  his  way  more  harmlessly  if  he  could, 
but  horses  or  mules  he  must  have,  and  these  are  his  ways  and 
means. 

The  town  of  Nablous  is  beautiful ;  it  lies  in  a  valley  hemmed 


CHAP,  xxiv.]  GAZA  TO  NABLOUS.  201 

in  with  olive  groves,  and  its  buildings  are  interspersed  with  fre- 
quent palm-trees.  It  Js  said  to  occupy  the  site  of  the  ancient 
Sychem.  I  know  not  whether  it  was  there,  indeed,  that  the 
father  of  the  Jews  was  accustomed  to  feed  his  flooks  ;  but  the 
valley  is  green  and  smiling,  and  is  held  at  this  day  by  a  race 
more  brave  and  beautiful  than  Jacob's  unhappy  descendants. 

Nablous  is  the  very  furnace  of  Mahometan  bigotry,  and  I  be- 
lieve that  only  a  few  months  before  the  time  of  my  going  there, 
it  would  have  been  quite  unsafe  for  a  man,  unless  strongly 
guarded,  to  show  himself  to  the  people  of  the  town  in  a  Frank 
costume ;  but  since  their  last  insurrection,  the  Mahomedans  of 
the  place  had  been  so  far  subdued  by  the  severity  of  Ibrahim 
Pasha,  that  they  dared  not  now  offer  the  slightest  insult  to  an 
European.  It  was  quite  plain,  however,  that  the  effort  with 
which  the  men  of  the  old,  school  refrained  from  expressing  their 
opinion  of  a  hat  and  a  coat,  was  horribly  painful  to  them  ;  as  I 
walked  through  the  streets  and  bazaars,  a  dead  silence  prevailed ; 
every  man  suspended  his  employment,  and  gazed  on  me  with  a 
fixed,  glassy  look,  which  seemed  to  say,  "  God  is  good,  but  how 
marvellous  and  inscrutable  are  his  ways  that  thus  he  permits 
this  white-faced  dog  of  a  Christian  to  hunt  through  the  paths  of 
the  faithful !" 

The  insurrection  of  these  people  had  been  more  formidable 
than  any  other  that  Ibrahim  Pasha  had  to  contend  with  ;  he  was 
only  able  to  crush  them  at  last  by  the  assistance  of  a  fellow 
renowned  for  his  resources  in  the  way  of  stratagem  and  cunning, 
as  well  as  for  his  knowledge  of  the  country.  This  personage 
was  no  other  than  Aboo  Goosh  ("  the  father  of  lies")*  who  was 
taken  out  of  prison  for  the  purpose.  The  "  father  of  lies"  ena- 
bled Ibrahim  to  hem  in  the  insurrection,  and  extinguish  it ;  he 
was  rewarded  with  the  Governorship  of  Jerusalem,  which  ho 
held  when  I  was  there  ;  I  recollect,  by  the  bye,  that  lie  tried  one 
of  his  stratagems  upon  me.  I  did  not  go  to  see  him  as  I  ought 
in  courtesy  to  have  done,  during  my  stay  at  Jerusalem,  but  I 
happened  to  be  the  owner  of  a  rather  handsome  amber  tchibouk 

*  This  is  an  appellation,  not  implying  blame,  but  merit ;  the  "  lies"  which 
it  purports  tc^affiliate  are  feints  and  cunning  stratagems  rather  than  the  baser 
kind  of  falsehoods.  The  expression  in  short  has  nearly  the  same  meaning 
as  the  English  word  "  Yorkshireman." 


202  EOTHEN.  [CHAP.  xxiv. 

piece  which  the  Governor  heard  of,  and  by  some  means  contriv- 
ed to  see  ;  he  sent  to  me,  and  dressed  up  a  statement  that  he 
would  give  me  a  price  immensely  exceeding  the  sum  which  I 
had  given  for  it.  He  did  not  add  my  tchibouk  to  the  rest  of  his 
trophies. 

There  was  a  small  number  of  Greek  Christians  resident  in 
Nablous,  and  over  these  the  Mussulmans  held  a  high  hand,  not 
even,  permitting  them  to  speak  to  each  other  in  the  open  streets  ; 
but  if  the  Moslems  thus  set  themselves  above  the  poor  Christians 
of  the  place,  I,  or  rather  my  servants,  soon  took  the  ascendant 
over  them.  I  recollect  that  just  as  we  were  starting  from  the 
place,  and  at  a  time  when  a  number  of  people  had  gathered 
together  in  the  main  street  to  see  our  preparations,  Mysseri, 
being  provoked  at  some  piece  of  perverseness  on  the  part  of 
a  true  Believer,  coolly  thrashed  him  wiljj  his  horsewhip  before  the 
assembled  crowd  of  fanatics.  I  was  much  annoyed  at  the  time, 
for  I  thought  that  the  people  would  probably  rise  against  us. 
They  turned  rather  pale,  but  stood  still. 

The  day  of  my  arriving  at  Nablo.us  was  a  fete — the  new 
year's  day  of  the  Mussulmans.*  Most  of  the  people  were  amus- 
ing themselves  in  the  beautiful  lawns  and  shady  groves  without 
the  city.  The  men  (except  myself)  were  all  remotely  apart 
from  the  other  sex.  The  women  in  groups  were  diverting  them- 
selves and  their  children  with  swings.  They  were  so  handsome 
that  they  could  not  keep  up  their  yashmaks  ;  I  believe  that  they 
had  never  before  looked  upon  a  man  in  the  European  dress,  and 
when  they  now  saw  in  me  that  strange  phenomenon,  and  saw, 
too,  how  they  could  please  the  creature  by  showing  him  a 
glimpse  of  beauty,  they  seemed  to  think  it  was  better  fun  to  do 
this,  than  to  go  on  playing  with  swings.  It  was  always,  how- 
ever, with  a  sort  of  Zoological  expression  of  countenance  that 
they  looked  on  the  horrible  monster  from  Europe,  and  whenever 
one  of  them  gave  me  to  see  for  one  sweet  instant,  the  blushing  of 
her  unveiled  face,  it  was  with  the  same  kind  of  air  as  that  with 
which  a  young,  timid  girl  will  edge  her  way  up  to  an  elephant, 
and  tremblingly  give  him  a  nut  from  the  tips  of  her  rosy 
fingers. 

• 

*  The  29th  of  April. 


CHAP,  xxv.]  MARIAM.  203 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

,,•<•,  Mariam. 

THERE  is  no  spirit  of  Propagandism  in  the  Mussulmans  of  the 
Ottoman  dominions.  True  it  is  that  a  prisoner  of  War,  or  a 
Christian  condemned  to  death,  may  on  some  occasions  save  his 
life  by  adopting  the  religion  of  Mahomet,  but  instances  of  this 
kind  are  now  exceedingly  rare,  and  are  quite  at  variance  with 
the  general  system.  Many  Europeans  I  think  would  be  sur- 
prised to  learn  that  which  is  nevertheless  quite  true,  namely  that 
an  attempt  to  disturb  the  religious  repose  of  the  Empire  by  the 
conversion  of  a  Christian  to  the  Mahometan  faith  is  positively 
illegal ;  an  incident  which  occurred  at  Nablous,  and  which  I 
am  going  to  mention,  showed  plainly  enough  that  the  unlawful- 
ness of  such  interference  is  recognized  even  in  the  most  big- 
oted stronghold  of  Islam. 

During  my  stay  at  this  place  I  took  up  my  quarters  at  the 
house  of  the  Greek  Papa,  as  he  is  called,  that  is,  the  Greek 
Priest ;  the  priest  himself  had  gone  to  Jerusalem  upon  the  busi- 
ness I  am  going  to  tell  you  of,  but  his  wife  remained  at  Nablous, 
and  did  the  honors  of  her  home. 

Soon  after  my  arrival,  a  deputation  from  the  Greek  Christians 
of  the  place  came  to  request  my  interference  in  a  matter  which 
had  occasioned  vast  excitement. 

And  now  I  must  tell  you  how  it  came  to  happen,  as  it  did 
continually,  that  people  thought  it  worth  while  to  claim  the  as- 
sistance of  a  mere  traveller  who  was  totally  devoid  of  all  just 
pretensions  to  authority,  or  influence  of  even  the  humblest  de- 
scription, and  especially  I  must  explain  to  you  how  it  was  that 
the  power  thus  attributed,  did  really  belong  to  me,  or  rather  to 
my  Dragoman.  Successive  political  convulsions  had  at  length 
fairly  loosed  the  people  of  Syria  from  their  former  rules  of  con- 


204  EOTHEX.  [CHAP.  xxv. 

duct,  and  from  all  their  old  habits  of  reliance.  The  violence 
and  success  with  which  Mehemet  Ali  crushed  the  insurrections  of 
the  Mahometan  population,  had  utterly  beaten  down  the  head  of 
Islam,  and  extinguished  for  the  time  at  least,  those  virtues  and 
vices  which  had  sprung  from  the  Mahometan  Faith.  Success  so 
complete  as  Mehemet  Ali's,  if  it  had  been  attained  by  an  ordi- 
nary Asiatic  potentate,  would  have  induced  a  notion  of  stability. 
The  readily  bowing  mind  of  the  Oriental  would  have  bowed 
low  and  long  under  the  feet  of  a  conqueror  whom  God  had  thus 
strengthened.  But  Syria  was  no  field  for  contests  strictly 
Asiatic — Europe  was  involved,  and  though  the  heavy  masses  of 
Egyptian  troops  clinging  down  with  strong  gripe  upon  the  land, 
might  seem  to  hold  it  fast,  yet  every  peasant  practically  felt  and 
knew  that  in  Vienna,  or  Petersburg,  or  London,  there  were  four 
or  five  pale  looking  men  who  could  pull  down  the  star  of  the 
Pasha  with  shreds  of  paper  and  ink.  The  people  of  the  country 
knew,  too,  that  Mehemet  Ali  was  strong  with  the  strength  of  the 
Europeans, — strong  by  his  French  General,  his  French  tactics, 
and  his  English  engines.  Moreover,  they  saw  that  the  person, 
the  property,  and  even  the  dignity  of  the  humblest  European 
was  guarded  with  the  most  careful  solicitude.  The  consequence 
of  all  this  was,  that  the  people  of  Syria  looked  vaguely,  but 
confidently,  to  Europe  for  fresh  changes  ;  many  would  fix  upon 
some  nation,  France  or  England,  and  steadfastly  regard  it  as 
the  arriving  sovereign  of  Syria  ;  those  whose  minds  remained  in 
bt,  equally  contributed  to  this  new  state  of  public  opinion, 
which  no  longer  depended  upon  Religion  and  ancient  habits, 
but  upon  bare  hopes  and  fears.  Every  man  wanted  to  know, — 
not  who  was  his  neighbor,  but  who  was  to  be  his  ruler ;  whose 
feet  he  was  to  kiss,  and  by  whom  his  feet  were  to  be  ultimately 
beaten.  Treat  your  friend,  says  the  proverb,  as  though  he  were 
one  day  to  become  your  enemy,  and  your  enemy  as  though  he 
were  one  day  to  become  your  friend.  The  Syrians  went  fur- 
ther, and  seemed  inclined  to  treat  every  stranger  as  though  he 
might  one  day  become  their  Pasha.  Such  was  the  state  of  cir- 
cumstances and  of  feeling  which  now  for  the  first  time  had 
thoroughly  opened  the  mind  of  Western  Asia  for  the  reception 
of  Europeans  and  European  ideas.  The  credit  of  the  English 


5" 


CHAP,  xxv.]  MARIAM.  205 

especially  was  so  great,  that  a  good  Mussulman  flying  from  the  con- 
scription, or  any  other  persecution,  would  come  to  seek  from  the 
formerly  despised  hat,  that  protection  which  the  turban  could  no 
longer  afford,  and  a  man  high  in  authority  (as  for  instance  the 
Governor  in  command  of  Gaza)  would  think  that  he  had  won  a 
prize,  or  at  all  events  a  valuable  lottery  ticket,  if  he  obtained  a 
written  approval  of  his  conduct  from  a  simple  traveller. 

Still,  in  order  that  any  immediate  result  should  follow  from 
all  this  unwonted  readiness  in  the  Asiatic  to  succumb  to  the 
European,  it  was  necessary  that  some  one  should  be  at  hand, 
who  could  see,  and  would  push  the  advantage ;  I  myself  had 
neither  the  inclination  nor  the  power  to  do  so,  but  it  happened 
that  Dthemetri,  who  as  my  Dragoman  represented  me  on  all 
occasions,  was  the  very  person  of  all  others  best  fitted  to  avail 
himself  with  success  of  this  yielding  tendency  in  the  Oriental 
mind.  If  the  chance  of  birth  and  fortune  had  made  poor  Dthe- 
metri a  tailor  during  some  part  of  his  life,  yet  Religion  and  the 
literature  of  the  Church  which  he  served,  had  made  him  a  Man, 
and  a  brave  Man,  too.  The  lives  of  Saints  with  which  he  was 
familiar,  were  full  of  heroic  actions,  which  invited  imitation, 
and  since  faith  in  a  creed  involves  a  faith  in  its  ultimate  triumph, 
Dthemetri  was  bold  from  a  sense  of  true  strength  ;  his  educa- 
tion, too,  though  not  very  general  in  its  character,  had  been 
carried  quite  far  enough  to  justify  him  in  pluming  himself  upon 
a  very  decided  advantage  over  the  great  bulk  of  the  Mahometan 
population,  including  the  men  of  authority.  With  all  this  con- 
sciousness of  religious  and  intellectual  superiority,  Dthemetri 
had  lived  for  the  most  part  in  countries  lying  under  Mussulman 
Governments,  and  had  witnessed  (perhaps,  too,  had  suffered 
from)  their  revolting  cruelties  ;  the  result  was  that  he  abhorred 
and  despised  the  Mahometan  faith,  and  all  who  clung  to  it. 
And  this  hate  was  not  of  the  dry,  dull,  and  inactive  sort ;  Dthe- 
metri was  in  his  sphere  a  true  Crusader,  and  whenever  there 
appeared  a  fair  opening  in  the  defences  of  Islam,  he  was  ready 
and  eager  to  make  the  assault.  These  sentiments,  backed  by  a 
consciousness  of  understanding  the  people  with  whom  he  had  to 
do,  made  Dthemetri  not  only  firm  and  resolute  in  his  constant 
interviews  with  men  in  authority,  but  sometimes,  also  (as  you 


206  EOTHEN.  [CHAP.  xxv. 

may  know  already),  very  violent,  and  even  insulting.  This 
tone,  which  I  always  disliked,  though  I  was  fain  to  profit  by  it, 
invariably  succeeded  ;  it  swept  away  all  resistance  ;  there  was 
nothing  in  the  then  depressed  and  succumbing  mind  of  the  Mus- 
sulman that  could  oppose  a  zeal  so  warm  and  fierce. 

As  for  me,  I  of  course  stood  aloof  from  Dthemetri's  crusades, 
and  did  not  even  render  him  any  active  assistance  when  he  was 
striving  (as  he  almost  always  was,  poor  fellow)  on  my  behalf; 
I  was  only  the  death's  head  and  white  sheet  with  which  he 
scared  the  enemy ;  I  think,  however,  that  I  played  this  spectral 
part  exceedingly  well,  for  1  seldom  appeared  at  all  in  any  dis- 
cussion, and  whenever  I  did,  I  was  sure  to  be  pale  and  calm. 

The  event  which  induced  the  Christians  of  Nablous  to  seek 
for  my  assistance  was  this.  A  beautiful  young  Christian,  between 
fifteen  and  sixteen  years  old,  had  lately  been  married  to  a  man 
of  her  own  creed.  About  the  same  time  (probably  on  the 
occasion  of  her  wedding)  she  was  accidentally  seen  by  a  Mus- 
sulman Sheik  of  great  wealth  and  local  influence,  who  instantly 
became  madly  enamored  of  her.  The  strict  morality,  which 
so  generally  prevails  where  the  Mussulmans  have  complete 
ascendency,  prevented  the  Sheik  from  entertaining  any  such 
sinful  hopes  as  an  European  might  have  ventured  to  cherish 
under  the  like  circumstances,  and  he  saw  no  chance  of  gratify- 
ing his  love,  except  by  inducing  the  girl  to  embrace  his  own 
creed :  if  he  could  induce  her  to  take  this  step,  her  marriage 
with  the  Christian  would  be  dissolved,  and  then  there  would  be 
nothing  to  prevent  him  from  making  her  the  last,  and  brightest 
of  his  wives.  The  Sheik  was  a  practical  man,  and  quickly 
began  his  attack  upon  the  theological  opinions  of  the  bride ;  he 
did  riot  assail  her  with  the  eloquence  of  any  Imaums  or  Mussul- 
man Saints — he  did  not  press  upon  her  the  eternal  truths  of  the 
"  Cow,"*  or  the  beautiful  morality  of  the  "  Table,"* — he  sent 
her  no  tracts — not  even  a  dopy  of  the  holy  Koran.  An  old 
woman  acted  as  missionary.  She  brought  with  her  a  whole 
basket  full  of  arguments — jewels,  and  shawls,  and  scarfs,  and  all 

*  These  are  the  names  given  by  the  Prophet  to  certain  chapters  of  the 
Koran. 


CHAP,  xxv.]  MARIAM.  207 

kinds  of  persuasive  finery.  Poor  Mariam  !  she  put  on  the  jewels, 
and  took  a  calm  view  of  the  Mahometan  Religion  in  a  little  hand 
mirror — she  could  not  be  deaf  to  such  eloquent  ear-rings,  and 
the  great  truths  of  Islam  came  home  to  her  young  bosom  in  the 
delicate  folds  of  the  Cashmere ;  she  was  ready  to  abandon  her 
faith. 

The  Sheik  knew  very  well  that  his  attempt  to  convert  an 
infidel  was  illegal,  and  that  his  proceedings  would  not  bear 
investigation,  so  he  took  care  to  pay  a  large  sum  to  the  Governor 
of  Nablous  in  order  to  obtain  his  connivance. 

At  length  Mariam  quitted  her  home,  and  placed  herself  under 
the  protection  of  the  Mahometan  authorities,  who,  however, 
refrained  from  delivering  her  into  the  arms  of  her  lover,  and 
detained  her  in  a  mosque  until  the  fact  of  her  real  conversion 
(which  had  been  indignantly  denied  by  her  relatives)  should  be 
established.  For  two  or  three  days  the  mother  of  the  young 
convert  was  prevented  from*  communicating  with  her  child  by 
various  evasive  contrivances,  but  not,  it  would  seem,  by  a  flat 
refusal.  At  length  it  was  announced  that  the  young  lady's  pro- 
fession of  faith  might  be  heard  from  her  own  lips.  At  an  hour 
appointed,  the  friends  of  the  Sheik  and  the  relatives  of  the 
damsel  met  in  the  mosque.  The  young  convert  addressed  her 
mother  in  a  loud  voice,  and  said,  "  God  is  God,  and  Mahomet 
is  the  Prophet  of  God,  and  thou,  oh  !  my  mother,  art  an  infidel 
feminine  dog  !" 

You  would  suppose  that  this  declaration,  so  clearly  enounced, 
and  that,  too,  in  a  place  where  Mahometanism  is,  perhaps, 
more  supreme  than  in  any  other  part  of  the  Empire,  would  have 
sufficed  to  confirm  the  pretensions  of  the  lover.  This,  however, 
was  not  the  case.  The  Greek  Priest  of  the  place  was  despatched 
on  a  mission  to  the  Governor  of  Jerusalem  (Aboo  Goosh)  in 
order  to  complain  against  the  proceedings  of  the  Sheik,  and 
obtain  a  restitution  of  the  bride.  Meanwhile  the  Mahometan 
authorities  at  Nablous  were  so  conscious  of  having  acted  unlaw- 
fully, in  conspiring  to  disturb  the  faith  of  the  beautiful  infidel, 
that  they  hesitated  to  take  any  further  step,  and  the  girl  was  still 
detained  in  the  mosque. 

Thus  matters  stood  when  the  Christians  of  the  place  came  and 
sought  to  obtain  my  assistance. 


208  EOTHEN.  [CHAP.  xxv. 

I  felt  (with  regret)  that  I  had  no  personal  interest  in  the  matter, 
and  I  also  thought  that  there  was  no  pretence  for  my  interfering 
with  the  conflicting  claims  of  the  Christian  husband,  and  the 
Mahometan  lover,  and  I  therefore  declined  to  take  any  step. 

My  speaking  of  the  husband,  by  the  by,  reminds  me  that  he 
was  extremely  backward  about  the  great  work  of  recovering  his 
youthful  bride.  The  relations  of  the  girl,  who  felt  themselves 
disgraced  by  her  conduct,  were  vehement,  and  excited  to  a  high 
pitch,  but  the  Menelaus  of  Nablous  was  exceedingly  calm  and 
composed. 

The  fact  that  it  was  not  technically  my  duty  to  interfere  in  a 
matter  of  this  kind,  was  a  very  sufficient,  and  yet  a  very  unsatis- 
factory reason  for  my  refusal  of  all  assistance.  Until  you  are 
placed  in  situations  of  this  kind,  you  can  hardly  tell  how  painful 
it  is  to  refrain  from  intermeddling  in  other  people's  affairs — to 
refrain  from  intermeddling  when  you  feel  that  you  can  do  so 
with  happy  effect,  and  can  remove  a  load  of  distress  by  the  use 
of  a  few  small  phrases.  Upon  this  occasion,  however,  an 
expression  fell  from  one  of  the  girl's  kinsmen,  which  not  only 
determined  me  against  all  interference,  but  made  me  hope  that 
all  attempts  to  recover  the  proselyte  would  fail ;  this  person, 
speaking  with  the  most  savage  bitterness,  and  with  the  cordial 
approval  of  all  the  other  relatives,  said  that  the  girl  ought  to  be 
beaten  to  death.  I  could  not  fail  to  see  that  if  the  poor  child 
were  ever  restored  to  her  family,  she  would  be  treated  with  the 
most  frightful  barbarity  ;  I  heartily  wished,  therefore,  that  the 
Mussulmans  might  be  firm,  and  preserve  their  young  prize  from 
any  fate  so  dreadful  as  that  of  a  return  to  her  own  relations. 

The  next  day  the  Greek  Priest  returned  from  his  mission  to 
Aboo  Goosh,  but  the  "father  of  lies,"  it  would  seem,  had  been 
well  plied  with  the  gold  of  the  enamored  Sheik,  and  contrived 
to  put  off  the  prayers  of  the  Christians  by  cunning  feints.  Now, 
therefore,  a  second  and  more  numerous  deputation  than  the  first 
waited  upon  me,  and  implored  my  intervention  with  the  Gover- 
nor. I  informed  the  assembled  Christians  that  since  their  last 
application  I  had  carefully  considered  the  matter.  The  reli- 
gious question  I  thought  might  be  put  aside  at  once,  for  the  ex- 


CHAP,  xxv.]  MARIAM.  209 

cessive  levity  which  the  girl  had  displayed  proved  clearly  that, 
in  adopting  Mahometanism,  she  was  not  quitting  any  other  reli- 
gion ;  her  mind  must  have  been  thoroughly  blank  upon  religious 
questions,  and  she  was  not,  therefore,  to  be  treated  as  a  Chris- 
tian that  had  strayed  from  the  flock,  but  rather  as  a  child  with- 
out any  religion  at  all,  who  was  willing  to  conform  to  the  usa- 
ges of  those  who  would  deck  her  with  jewels,  and  clothe  her 
with  Cashmere  shawls. 

So  much  for  the  religious  part  of  the  question.  Well,  then, 
in  a  merely  temporal  sense,  it  appeared  to  me  that  (looking 
merely  to  the  interests  of  the  damsel,  for  I  rather  unjustly  put 
poor  Menelaus  quite  out  of  the  question),  the  advantages  were 
all  on  the  side  of  the  Mahometan  match.  The  Sheik  was 
in  a  much  higher  station  of  life  than  the  superseded  husband, 
and  had  given  the  best  possible  proof  of  his  ardent  affection,  by 
the  sacrifices  which  he  had  made,  and  the  risks  which  he  had 
incurred  for  the  sake  of  the  beloved  object.  I  therefore  stated 
fairly,  to  the  horror  and  amazement  of  all  my  hearers,  that  the 
Sheik,  in  my  view,  was  likely  to  make  a  most  capital  husband, 
and  that  I  entirely  "  approved  of  the  match." 

I  left  Nablous  under  the  impression  that  Mariam  would  soon 
be  delivered  to  her  Mussulman  lover  ;  I  afterwards  found,  how- 
ever, that  the  result  was  very  different.  Dthemetri's  religious 
zeal  and  hate  had  been  so  much  excited  by  the  account  of  these 
events,  and  by  the  grief  and  mortification  of  his  co-religionists, 
that  when  he  found  me  firmly  determined  to  decline  all  interfer- 
ence in  the  matter,  he  secretly  appealed  to  the  Governor  in  my 
name  and  (using,  I  suppose,  many  violent  threats,  and  telling,  no 
doubt,  many  lies  about  my  station  and  influence)  extorted  a 
promise  that  the  proselyte  should  be  restored  to  her  relatives.  I 
did  not  understand  that  the  girl  had  been  actually  given  up 
whilst  I  remained  at  Nablous,  but  Dthemetri  certainly  did  not  de- 
sist from  his  instances  until  he  had  satisfied  himself  by  some  means 
or  other  (for  mere  words  amounted  to  nothing)  that  the  promise 
would  be  actually  performed.  It  was  not  till  I  had  quitted  Syria 
and  when  Dthemetri  was  no  longer  in  my  service,  that  this  vil- 
lainous though  well-motived  trick  of  his  came  to  my  know- 
ledge ;  Mysseri,  who  informed  me  of  the  step  which  had  been 
15 


210  EOTHEN.  [CHAP.   xxv. 

taken,  did  not  know  it  himself  until  some  time  after  we  had  quit- 
ted Nablous,  when  Dthemetri  exultingly  confessed  his  success- 
ful enterprise.  I  know  not  whether  the  engagement  which  my 
zealous  Dragoman  extorted  from  the  Governor  was  ever  com- 
plied with.  I  shudder  to  think  of  the  fate  which  must  have  be- 
fallen  poor  Mariam,  if  she  fell  into  the  hands  of  her  husband. 


CHAP,  xxvi.]  THE  PROPHET  DAMOOR.  211 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

The  Prophet  Damoor. 

FOR  some  hours  I  passed  along  the  shores  of  the  fair  Lake  of 
Galilee,  and  then  turning  a  little  to  the  westward,  I  struck  into 
a  mountainous  country,  the  character  of  which  became  more 
bold  and  beautiful  as  I  advanced.  At  length  I  drew  near  to 
Safet,  which  sits  as  proud  as  a  fortress  upon  the  summit  of  a 
craggy  height,  and  yet  because  of  its  minarets,  and  stately 
trees,  the  place  looks  bright  and  beautiful.  It  is  one  of  the  holy 
cities  of  the  Talmud,  and  according  to  this  authority,  the  Mes- 
siah will  reign  there  forty  years  before  he  takes  possession  of 
Sion.  The  sanctity  thus  attributed  to  the  city  renders  it  a  favor- 
ite place  of  retirement  for  Israelites,  of  whom  it  contains  four 
thousand,  a  number  nearly  balancing  that  of  the  Mahometan  in- 
habitants. I  knew  by  my  experience  of  Tabarieh  that  a  "  holy 
city"  was  sure  to  have  a  population  of  vermin  somewhat  pro- 
portionate  to  the  number  of  its  Israelites,  and  I  therefore  caused 
my  tent  to  be  pitched  upon  a  green  spot  of  ground  at  a  respect- 
ful distance  from  the  walls  of  the  town. 

When  it  had  become  quite  dark  (for  there  was  no  moon  that 
night)  I  was  informed  that  several  Jews  had  secretly  come  from 
the  city,  in  the  hope  of  obtaining  some  assistance  from  me  in 
circumstances  of  imminent  danger ;  I  was  also  informed  that 
they  claimed  my  aid  upon  the  ground  that  some  of  their 
number  were  British  subjects.  It  was  arranged  that  the  two 
principal  men  of  the  party  should  speak  for  the  rest,  and  these 
were  accordingly  admitted  into  my  tent.  One  of  the  two  called 
himself  the  British  Vice-Consul,  and  he  had  with  him  his  con- 
sular cap,  but  he  frankly  said  that  he  could  not  have  dared  to 
assume  this  emblem  of  his  dignity  in  the  day  time,  and  that 
nothing  but  the  extreme  darkness  of  the  night  rendered  it  safe 


•212  EOTHEN.  [CHAP.  xxvi. 


for  him  to  put  it  on  upon  this  occasion.  The  other  of  the 
spokesmen  was  a  Jew  of  Gibraltar,  a  tolerably  well-bred  per- 
son, who  spoke  English  very  fluently. 

These  men  informed  me  that  the  Jews  of  the  place,  who  were 
exceedingly  wealthy,  had  lived  peaceably  in  their  retirement 
until  the  insurrection  which  took  place  in  1834,  but  about  the 
beginning  of  that  year  a  highly  religious  Mussulman,  called 
Mohammed  Damoor,  went  forth  into  the  market-place,  crying 
with  a  loud  voice,  and  prophesying,  that  on  the  fifteenth  of  the 
following  June  the  true  Believers  would  rise  up  in  just  wrath 
against  the  Jews,  and  despoil  them  of  their  gold,  and  their  silver, 
and  their  jewels.  The  earnestness  of  the  prophet  produced 
some  impression  at  the  time,  but  all  went  on  as  usual,  until  at 
last  the  fifteenth  of  June  arrived.  When  that  day  dawned,  the 
whole  Mussulman  population  of  the  place  assembled  in  the 
streets,  that  they  might  see  the  result  of  the  prophecy.  Sud- 
denly Mohammed  Damoor  rushed  furious  into  the  crowd,  and  the 
fierce  shout  of  the  prophet  soon  ensured  the  fulfilment  of  his 
prophecy.  Some  of  the  Jews  fled,  and  some  remained,  but  they 
who  fled,  and  they  who  remained,  alike  and  unresistingly  left 
their  property  to  the  hands  of  the  spoilers.  The  most  odious  of 
all  outrages,  that  of  searching  the  women  for  the  base  purpose  of 
discovering  such  things  as  gold  and  silver  concealed  about  their 
persons,  was  perpetrated  without  shame.  The  poor  Jews  were 
so  stricken  with  terror,  that  they  submitted  to  their  fate,  even 
where  resistance  would  have  been  easy.  In  several  instances  a 
young  Mussulman  boy,  not  more  than  ten  or  twelve  years  of 
age,  walked  straight  into  the  house  of  a  Jew,  and  stripped  him 
of  his  property  before  his  face,  and  in  the  presence  of  his  whole 
family.*  When  the  insurrection  was  put  down,  some  of  the 
Mussulmans  (most  probably  those  who  had  got  no  spoil  where- 
with they  might  buy  immunity)  were  punished,  but  the  greater 
part  of  them  escaped ;  none  of  the  booty  was  restored,  and  the 
pecuniary  redress  which  the  Pasha  had  undertaken  to  enforce 
for  them,  had  been  hitherto  so  carefully  delayed,  that  the  hope 
of  ever  obtaining  it  had  grown  very  faint.  A  new  Governor 

*  It  was  after  the  interview  which   I  am  talking  of,  and  not  from  the 
Jews  themselves,  that  I  learnt  this  fact. 


CHAP,  xxvi.]  THE  PROPHET  DAMOOR.  213 


had  been  appointed  to  the  command  of  the  place,  with  stringent 
orders  to  ascertain  the  real  extent  of  the  losses,  and  to  discover 
the  spoilers,  with  the  view  of  compelling  them  to  make  restitu- 
tion. It  was  found  that,  notwithstanding  the  urgency  of  the  in- 
structions which  the  Governor  had  received,  he  did  not  push  on 
the  affair  with  the  vigor  which  had  been  expected ;  the  Jews 
complained,  and  either  by  the  protection  of  the  British  Consul  at 
Damascus,  or  by  some  other  means,  had  influence  enough  to  in- 
duce  the  appointment  of  a  special  Commissioner — they  called 
him  "  the  Modeer" — whose  duty  it  was  to  watch  for,  and  prevent 
anything  like  connivance  on  the  part  of  the  Governor,  and  to 
push  on  the  investigation  with  vigor  and  impartiality. 

Such  were  the  instructions  with  which  some  few  weeks  since 
the  Modeer  came  fraught  ;  the  result  was  that  the  investigation 
had  made  no  practical  advance,  and  that  the  Modeer,  as  well  as 
the  Governor,  was  living  upon  terms  of  affectionate  friendship 
with  Mohammed  Damoor,  and  the  rest  of  the  principal  spoilers. 

Thus  stood  the  chances  of  redress  for  the  past,  but  the  cause 
of  the  agonizing  excitement  under  which  the  Jews  of  the  place 
now  labored,  was  recent,  and  justly  alarming ;  Mohammed 
Damoor  had  again  gone  forth  into  the  market-place,  and  lifted 
up  his  voice,  and  prophesied  a  second  spoliation  of  the  Israelites. 
This  was  grave  matter ;  the  words  of  such  a  practical  man  as 
Mohammed  Damoor  were  not  to  be  despised.  I  fear  I  must 
have  smiled  visibly,  for  I  was  greatly  amused,  and  even,  I  think, 
gratified  at  the  account  of  this  second  prophecy.  Nevertheless, 
my  heart  warmed  towards  the  poor  oppressed  Israelites,  and  I 
was  flattered  too,  in  the  point  of  my  national  vanity,  at  the  no- 
tion of  the  far-reaching  link,  by  which  a  Jew  in  Syria,  who 
had  been  born  on  the  rock  of  Gibraltar,  was  able  to  claim  me 
as  his  fellow-countryman.  If  I  hesitated  at  all  between  the 
"  impropriety"  of  interfering  in  a  matter  which  was  no  business 
of  mine,  and  the  "  horrid  shame"  of  refusing  my  aid  at  such  a 
conjuncture,  I  soon  came  to  a  very  ungentlemanly  decision — 
namely,  that  I  would  be  guilty  of  the  "  impropriety,"  and  not  of 
the  "  horrid  shame."  It  seemed  to  me  that  the  immediate  ar- 
rest of  Mohammed  Damoor  was  the  one  thing  needful  to  the 
safety  of  the  Jews,  and  ifelt  confident  (for  reasons  which  I  have 


214  EOTHEN.  [CHAP.  xxvi. 

already  mentioned  in  speaking  of  the  Nablous  affair)  that  I 
should  be  able  to  obtain  this  result  by  making  a  formal  appli- 
cation to  the  Governor.  I  told  my  applicants  that  I  would  take 
this  step  on  the  following  morning ;  they  were  very  grateful, 
and  were  for  a  moment  much  pleased  at  the  prospect  of  safety 
which  might  thus  be  opened  to  them,  but  the  deliberation  of  a 
minute  entirely  altered  their  views,  and  filled  them  with  new 
terror ;  they  declared,  that  any  attempt,  or  pretended  attempt  on 
the  part  of  the  Governor  to  arrest  Mohammed  Damoor  would 
certainly  produce  an  immediate  movement  of  the  whole  Mus- 
sulman population,  and  a  consequent  massacre  and  robbery  of 
the  Israelites.  My  visitors  went  out,  and  occupied  considerable 
time,  if  I  rightly  remember,  in  consulting  their  brethren,  but  all 
agreed  that  their  present  perilous  and  painful  position  was  better 
than  the  certain  and  immediate  attack  which  would  be  made  if 
Mohammed  Damoor  were  seized — that  their  second  estate 
would  be  worse  than  their  first.  I  myself  did  not  think  that 
this  would  be  the  case,  but  I  could  not,  of  course,  force  my 
aid  upon  the  people  against  their  will,  and  moreover  the  day 
fixed  for  the  fulfilment  of  this  second  prophecy  was  not  very 
close  at  hand  ;  a  little  delay,  therefore,  in  providing  against  the 
impending  danger,  would  not  necessarily  be  fatal.  The  men 
now  confessed  that  although  they  had  come  with  so  much 
mystery,  and  as  they  thought,  at  so  great  a  risk,  to  ask  my  as- 
sistance, they  were  unable  to  suggest  any  mode  in  which  I 
could  aid  them,  except,  indeed,  by  mentioning  their  grievances 
to  the  Consul-general  at  Damascus.  This  I  promised  to  do,  and 
this  I  did. 

My  visitors  were  very  thankful  to  me  for  the  readiness  which 
I  had  shown  to  intermeddle  in  their  affairs,  and  the  grateful 
wives  of  the  principal  Jews  sent  to  me  many  compliments,  with 
choice  wines,  and  elaborate  sweetmeats. 

The  course  of  my  travels  soon  drew  me  so  far  from  Safet 
that  I  never  heard  how  the  dreadful  day  passed  off  which  had 
been  fixed  for  the  accomplishment  of  the  second  prophecy.  If 
the  predicted  spoliation  was  prevented,  poor  Mohammed  Damoor 
must  have  been  forced,  I  suppose,  to  say  that  he  had  prophesied 
in  a  metaphorical  sense.  This  would  be  a  sad  falling  off  from 
the  brilliant  and  substantial  success  of  the  first  experiment. 


CHAP,  xxvii.]  DAMASCUS.  215 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

Damascus. 

FOR  a  part  of  two  days  I  wound  under  the  base  of  the  snow- 
crowned  Djibel  el  Sheik,  and  then  entered  upon  a  vast  and  deso- 
late plain,  rarely  pierced  at  intervals  by  some  sort  of  withered 
stem.  The  earth  in  its  length  and  its  breadth,  and  all  the  deep 
universe  of  sky,  was  steeped  in  light  and  heat.  On  I  rode 
through  the  fire,  but  long  before  evening  came,  there  were  strain- 
ing eyes  that  saw  and  joyful  voices  that  announced  the  sight — of 
Shaum  Shereef— the  "  Holy,"  the  "  Blessed"  Damascus. 

But  that  which  at  last  I  reached  with  my  longing  eyes,  was 
not  a  speck  in  the  horizon,  gradually  expanding  to  a  group  of 
roofs  and  walls,  but  a  long,  low  line  of  blackest  green  that  ran 
right  across  in  the  distance  from  East  to  West.  And  this,  as  I 
approached,  grew  deeper — grew  wavy  in  its  outline  ;  soon  for- 
est trees  shot  up  before  my  eyes  and  robed  their  broad  shoulders 
so  freshly  that  all  the  throngs  of  olives  as  they  rose  into  view 
looked  sad  in  their  proper  dimness.  There  were  even  now  no 
houses  to  see,  but  only  the  minarets  peered  out  from  the  midst 
of  shade  into  the  glowing  sky  and  bravely  touched  the  Sun. 
There  seemed  to  be  here  no  mere  city,  but  rather  a  province, 
wide  and  rich,  that  bounded  the  torrid  waste. 

Until  within  a  year  or  two  of  the  time  at  which  I  went  there, 
Damascus  had  kept  up  so  much  of  the  old  bigot  zeal,  against 
Christians,  or  rather  against  Europeans,  that  no  one  dressed  as 
a  Frank  could  have  dared  to  show  himself  in  the  streets ;  but 
the  firmness  and  temper  of  Mr.  Farren,  who  hoisted  his  flag  in 
the  city  as  Consul-general  for  the  district,  had  soon  put  an  end 
to  all  intolerance  of  Englishmen.  Damascus  was  safer  than 
Oxford.*  When  I  entered  the  city,  in  my  usual  dress,  there 

*  An  enterprising  American  traveller,  Mr.  Everett,  lately  conceived  the 


216  EOTHEN.  [CHAP.  xxvn. 

was  but  one  poor  fellow  that  wagged  his  tongue,  and  him,  in  the 
open  streets,  Dthemetri  horse- whipped.  During  my  stay  I  went 
wherever  I  chose,  and  attended  the  public  baths  without  molesta- 
tion. Indeed  my  relations  with  the  pleasanter  portion  of  the 
Mahometan  population  were  upon  a  much  better  footing  here 
than  at  most  other  places. 

In  the  principal  streets  of  Damascus  there  is  a  path  for  foot 
passengers,  which  is  raised,  I  think,  a  foot  or  two  above  the 
bridle  road.  Until  the  arrival  of  the  British  Consul-general, 
none  but  a  Mussulman  had  been  permitted  to  walk  upon  the 
upper  way ;  Mr.  Farren  would  not,  of  course,  suffer  that  the 
humiliation  of  any  such  exclusion  should  be  submitted  to  by  an 
Englishman,  and  I  always  walked  upon  the  raised  path  as  free 
and  unmolested  as  if  I  had  been  striding  through  Bond  Street ; 
the  old  usage  was,  however,  maintained  with  as  much  strictness 
as  ever  against  the  Christian  Rayahs  and  Jews  ;  not  one  of 
them  could  have  set  his  foot  upon  the  privileged  path  without 
endangering  his  life. 

I  was  lounging  one  day,  I  remember,  along  "  the  paths  of  the 
faithful,"  when  a  Christian  Rayah  from  the  bridle-road  below 
saluted  me  with  such  earnestness,  and  craved  so  anxiously  to 
speak,  and  be  spoken  to,  that  he  soon  brought  me  to  a  halt ;  he 
had  nothing  to  tell,  except  only  the  glory,  and  exultation  with 
which  he  saw  a  fellow  Christian  stand  level  with  the  imperious 
Mussulmans ;  perhaps  he  had  been  absent  from  the  place  for 
some  time,  for  otherwise  I  hardly  know  how  it  could  have  hap- 
pened that  my  exaltation  was  the  first  instance  he  had  seen.  His 
joy  was  great ;  so  strong  and  strenuous  was  England  (Lord 
Palmerston  reigned  in  those  days)  that  it  was  a  pride  and  de- 

bold  project  of  penetrating  to  the  University  of  Oxford,  and  this,  notwith- 
standing that  he  had  been  in  his  infancy  (they  begin  very  young  those 
Americans)  an  Unitarian  preacher.  Having  a  notion,  it  seems,  that  the 
Ambassadorial  character  would  protect  him  from  insult,  he  adopted  the 
stratagem  of  procuring  credentials  from  his  government  as  Minister  Pleni- 
potentiary at  the  Court  of  her  Britannic  Majesty ;  he  also  wore  the  exact 
costume  of  a  Trinitarian,  but  all  his  contrivances  were  vain ;  Oxford  dis- 
dained and  rejected  him  (not because  he  represented  a  swindling  community, 
but)  because  that  his  infantine  sermons  were  strictly  remembered  against 
him  ;  the  enterprise  failed. 


CHAP,  xxvn.]  DAMASCUS.  217 

light  for  a  Syrian  Christian  to  look  up,  and  say  that  the  Eng- 
lishman's faith  was  his  too  ;  if  I  was  vexed  at  all  that  I  could 
not  give  the  man  a  lift,  and  shake  hands  with  him  on  level 
ground,  there  was  no  alloy  to  his  pleasure  ;  he  followed  me  on, 
not  looking  to  his  own  path,  but  keeping  his  eyes  on  me  ;  he  saw, 
as  he  thought,  and  said  (for  he  came  with  me  on  to  my  quar- 
ters) the  period  of  the  Mahometan's  absolute  ascendency — the 
beginning  of  the  Christian's.  He  had  so  closely  associated 
the  insulting  privilege  of  the  path  with  actual  dominion,  that  see- 
ing it  now  in  one  instance  abandoned,  he  looked  for  the  quick 
coming  of  European  troops.  His  lips  only  whispered,  and  that 
tremulously,  but  his  fiery  eyes  spoke  out  their  triumph  in  long 
and  loud  hurrahs  !  "  I,  too,  am  a  Christian.  My  foes  are  the 
foes  of  the  English.  We  are  all  one  people,  and  Christ  is  our 
King?' 

If  I  poorly  deserved,  yet  I  liked  this  claim  of  brotherhood. 
Not  all  the  warnings  which  I  heard  against  their  rascality  could 
hinder  me  from  feeling  kindly  towards  my  fellow-Christians  in 
the  East.  English  travellers,  from  a  habit  perhaps  of  depre- 
ciating sectarians  in  their  own  country,  are  apt  to  look  down 
upon  the  Oriental  Christians  as  being  "  dissenters"  from  the 
established  religion  of  a  Mahometan  Empire.  I  never  did 
thus.  By  a  natural  perversity  of  disposition,  which  my  nurse- 
maids called  contraz'riness,  I  felt  the  more  strongly  for  my  creed 
when  I  saw  it  despised  among  men.  I  quite  tolerated  the 
Christianity  of  Mahometan  countries,  notwithstanding  its  humble 
aspect,  and  the  damaged  character  of  its  followers  ;  I  went 
further,  and  extended  some  sympathy  towards  those  who,  with 
all  the  claims  of  superior  intellect,  learning,  and  industry,  were 
kept  down  under  the  heel  of  the  Mussulmans  by  reason  of  their 
having  our  faith.  I  heard,  as  I  fancied,  the  faint  echo  of  an  old 
Crusader's  conscience,  that  whispered,  and  said,  "  Common 
cause  !"  The  impulse  was,  as  you  may  suppose,  much  too 
feeble  to  bring  me  into  trouble — it  merely  influenced  my  actions 
in  a  way  thoroughly  characteristic  of  this  poor  sluggish  cen- 
tury— that  is,  by  making  me  speak  almost  as  civilly  to  the 
followers  of  Christ  as  I  did  to  their  Mahometan  foes. 

This  "  Holy"  Damascus,  this  "  earthly  paradise"  of  the  Pro- 


218  EOTHEN.  [CHAP.  xxvu. 

phet,  so  fair  to  the  eyes,  that  he  dared  not  trust  himself  to  tarry 
in  her  blissful  shades,  she  is  a  city  of  hidden  palaces,  of  copses, 
and  gardens,  and  fountains,  and  bubbling  streams.  The  juice 
of  her  life  is  the  gushing  and  ice-cold  torrent  that  tumbles  from 
the  snowy  sides  of  Anti- Lebanon.  Close  along  on  the  river's 
edge  through  seven  sweet  miles  of  rustling  boughs,  and  deepest 
shade,  the  city  spreads  out  her  whole  length ;  as  a  man  falls 
flat,  face  forward  on  the  brook,  that  he  may  drink,  and  drink 
again,  so  Damascus,  thirsting  for  ever,  lies  down  with  her  lips 
to  the  stream,  and  clings  to  its  rushing  waters. 

The  chief  places  of  public  amusement,  or  rather,  of  public 
relaxation,  are  the  baths,  and  the  great  cafe ;  this  last,  which 
is  frequented  at  night  by  most  of  the  wealthy  men,  and  by  many 
of  the  humbler  sort,  consists  of  a  number  of  sheds  very  simply 
framed,  and  built  in  a  labyrinth  of  running  streams,  which  /oam 
and  roar  on  every  side.  The  place  is  lit  up  in  the  simplest  man- 
ner by  numbers  of  small,  pale  lamps,  strung  upon  loose  cords, 
and  so  suspended  branch  to  branch,  that  the  light,  though  it  looks 
so  quiet  amongst  the  darkening  foliage,  yet  leaps  and  brightly 
flashes,  as  it  falls  upon  the  troubled  waters.  All  around,  and 
chiefly  upon  the  very  edge  of  the  torrents,  groups  of  people  are 
tranquilly  seated.  They  all  drink  coffee,  and  inhale  the  cold 
fumes  of  the  narguile  ;  they  talk  rather  gently  the  one  to  the 
other,  or  else  are  silent.  A  father  will  sometimes  have  two  or 
three  of  his  boys  around  him,  but  the  joyousness  of  the  Oriental 
child  is  all  of  the  sober  sort,  and  never  disturbs  the  reigning 
calm  of  the  land. 

It  has  been  generally  understood,  I  believe,  that  the  houses  of 
Damascus  are  more  sumptuous  than  those  of  any  other  city  in  the 
East.  Some  of  these — said  to  be  the  most  magnificent  in  the 
place — I  had  an  opportunity  of  seeing. 

Every  rich  man's  house  stands  detached  from  its  neighbors, 
at  the  side  of  a  garden,  and  it  is  from  this  cause,  no  doubt,  that 
the  city  has  hitherto  escaped  destruction.  You  know  some  parts 
of  Spain,  but  you  have  .never,  I  think,  been  in  Andalusia  ;  if  you 
had,  I  could  easily  show  you'the  interior  of  a  Damascene  house, 
by  referring  you  to  the  Alhambra,  or  Alcanzar  of  Seville.  The 
lofty  rooms  are  adorned  with  a  rich  inlaying  of  many  colors,  and 


CHAP,  xxvii.]  DAMASCUS. 


illuminated  writing  on  the  walls.  The  floors  are  of  marble. 
One  side  of  any  room  intended  for  noon-day  retirement  is  gene- 
rally laid  open  to  a  quadrangle,  in  the  centre  of  which  there 
dances  the  jet  of  a  fountain.  There  is  no  furniture  that  can  in- 
terfere with  the  cool,  palace-like  emptiness  of  the  apartments. 
A  divan  (which  is  a  low  and  doubly  broad  sofa)  runs  round  the 
three  walled  sides  of  the  room  ;  a  few  Persian  carpets  (which 
ought  to  be  called  Persian  rugs,  for  that  is  the  word  which  indi- 
cates their  shape  and  dimension),  are  sometimes  thrown  about 
near  the  divan ;  they  are  placed  without  order,  the  one  partly 
lapping  over  the  other,  and  thus  disposed,  they  give  to  the  room 
an  appearance  of  uncaring  luxury  ;  except  these  (of  which  I  saw 
few,  for  the  time  was  summer  and  fiercely  hot),  there  is  nothing 
to  obstruct  the  welcome  air,  and  the  whole  of  the  marble  floor 
from  one  divan  to  the  other,  and  from  the  head  of  the  chamber 
across  to  the  murmuring  fountain,  is  thoroughly  open  and  free. 

So  simple  as  this  is  Asiatic  luxury  ! — The  Oriental  is  not  a 
contriving  animal — there  is  nothing  intricate  in  his  magnificence. 
The  impossibility  of  handing  down  property  from  father  to  son, 
for  any  long  period  consecutively,  seems  to  prevent  the  existence 
of  those  traditions  by  which,  with  us,  the  refined  modes  of  apply- 
ing wealth  are  made  known  to  its  inheritors.  We  know  that  in 
England  a  newly-ma4e  rich  man  cannot,  by  taking  thought  and 
spending  money,  obtain  even  the  same-looking  furniture  as  a 
Gentleman.  The  complicated  character  of  an  English  estab- 
lishment allows  room  for  subtle  distinctions  between  that  which 
is  comme  ilfaut  and  that  which  is  not.  All  such  refinements  are 
unknown  in  the  East — the  Pasha  and  the  peasant  have  the  same 
tastes.  The  broad,  cold  marble  floor — the  simple  couch — the  air 
freshly  waving  through  a  shady  chamber — a  verse  of  the  Koran 
emblazoned  on  the  walls — the  sight  and  the  sound  of  falling 
water — the  cold,  fragrant  smoke  of  the  narguile,  and  a  small 
collection  of  wives  and  children  in  the  inner  apartments — all 
these,  the  utmost  enjoyments  of  the  grandee,  are  yet  such  as  to 
be  appreciable  by  the  humblest  Mussulman  in  the  empire. 

But  its  gardens  are  the  delight — the  delight  and  the  pride  of 
Damascus  ;  they  are  not  the  formal  parterres  which  you  might 
expect  from  the  Oriental  taste ;  they  rather  bring  back  to  your 


EOTHEX.  [CHAP.  xxvn. 


mind  the  memory  of  some  dark  old  shrubbery  in  our  northern 
isle,  that  has  been  charmingly  "  wn-kept  up"  for  many  and 
many  a  day.  When  you  see  a  rich  wilderness  of  wood  in  decent 
England,  it  is  like  enough  that  you  see  it  with  some  soft  regrets. 
The  puzzled  old  woman  at  the  lodge  can  give  small  account  of 
"The  family."  She  thinks  it  is  "  Italy"  that  has  made  the 
whole  circle  of  her  world  so  gloomy  and  sad.  You  avoid  the 
house  in  lively  dread  of  a  lone  housekeeper,  but  you  make  your 
way  on  by  the  stables ;  you  remember  that  gable  with  all  its 
neatly  nailed  trophies  of  fitches,  and  hawks,  and  owls,  now 
slowly  falling  to  pieces — you  remember  that  stable,  and  that,  but 
the  doors  are  all  fastened  that  used  to  be  standing  ajar — the 
paint  of  things  painted  is  blistered  and  cracked — grass  grows  in 
the  yard — just  there,  in  October  mornings,  the  keeper  would 
wait  with  the  dogs  and  the  guns — no  keeper  now — you  hurry 
away,  and  gain  the  small  wicket  that  used  to  open  to  the  touch 
of  a  lightsome  hand — it  is  fastened  with  a  pad'ock  (the  only  new. 
looking  thing),  and  is  stained  with  thick,  green  damp — you  climb 
it,  and  bury  yourself  in  the  deep  shade,  and  strive  but  lazily 
with  the  tangling  briars,  and  stop  for  long  minutes  to  judge  and 
determine  whether  you  will  creep  beneath  the  long  boughs,  and 
make  them  your  archway,  or  whether  perhaps  you  will  lift  your 
heel,  and  tread  them  down  under  foot.  Long  doubt,  and  scarcely 
to  be  ended,  till  you  wake  from  the  memory  of  those  days  when 
the  path  was  clear,  and  chase  that  phantom  of  a  muslin  sleeve 
that  once  weighed  warm  upon  your  arm. 

Wild  as  that  the  nighest  woodland  of  a  deserted  home  in  Eng- 
land, but  without  its  sweet  sadness,  is  the  sumptuous  garden  of 
Damascus.  Forest  trees,  tall  and  stately  enough  if  you  could 
see  their  lofty  crests,  yet  lead  a  tustling  life  of  it  below  with 
their  branches  struggling  against  strong  numbers  of  bushes 
and  wilful  shrubs.  The  shade  upon  the  earth  is  black  as  night. 
High,  high  above  your  head  and  on  every  side  all  down  to  the 
ground,  the  thicket  is  hemmed  in  and  choked  up  by  the  inter- 
lacing boughs  that  droop  witl^the  weight  of  roses,  and  load  the 
slow  air  with  their  damask  breath.*  There  are  no  other  flow- 

*  The  rose  trees  which  I  saw  were  all  of  the  kind  we  call  "  damask ;" 
they  grow  to  an  immense  height  and  size. 


CHAP,  xxvii.]  DAMASCUS.  221 

ers.  Here  and  there,  there  are  patches  of  ground  made  clear 
from  the  cover,  and  these  are  either  carelessly  planted  with 
some  common  and  useful  vegetable,  or  else  are  left  free  to  the 
wayward  ways  of  Nature,  and  bear  rank  weeds,  moist-looking 
and  cool  to  your  eyes,  and  freshening  the  sense  with  their 
earthy  and  bitter  fragrance.  There  is  a  lane  opened  through 
the  thicket  so  broad  in  some  places  that  you  can  pass  along  side 
by  side — in  some  so  narrow  (the  shrubs  are  for  ever  encroach- 
ing) that  you  ought,  if  you  can,  to  go  on  the  first  and  hold  back 
the  bough  of  the  rose  tree.  And  through  this  wilderness  there 
tumbles  a  loud  rushing  stream  which  is  halted  at  last  in  the 
lowest  corner  of  the  garden,  and  there  tossed  up  in  a  fountain  by 
the  side  of  the  simple  alcove.  This  is  all. 

Never  for  an  instant  will  the  people  of  Damascus  attempt  to 
separate  the  idea  of  bliss  from  these  wild  gardens  and  rushing 
waters.  Even  where  your  best  affections  are  concerned,  and 
you — prudent  preachers  "  hold  hard,"  and  turn  aside  when 
they  come  near  the  mysteries  of  the  happy  state,  and  we  (pru- 
dent preachers  too),  we  will  hush  our  voices  and  never  reveal 
to  finite  beings  the  joys  of  the  "  Earthly  Paradise." 


EOTHEN.  [CHAP,  xxvin 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

Pass  of  the  Lebanon. 

"  THE  ruins  of  Baalbec  !"  Shall  I  scatter  the  vague,  solemn 
thoughts  and  all  the  airy  phantasies  which  gather  together  when 
once  those  words  are  spoken,  that  I  may  give  you  instead  tall 
columns,  and  measurements  true,  and  phrases  built  with  ink  ? — 
No,  no ;  the  glorious  sounds  shall  still  float  on  as  of  yore,  and 
still  hold  fast  upon  your  brain  with  their  own  dim  and  infinite 
meaning. 

Come  !  Baalbec  is  over  ;  I  got  "  rather  well  "  out  of  that. 

The  pass  by  which  I  crossed  the  Lebanon  is  like,  I  think,  in 
its  features  to  one  which  you  must  know,  namely,  that  of  the 
Foorca  in  the  Bernese  Oberland.  For  a  great  part  of  the  way  I 
toiled  rather  painfully  through  the  dazzling  snow,  but  the  labor 
of  ascending  added  to  the  excitement  with  which  I  looked  for 
the  summit  of  the  pass.  The  time  came.  There  was  a  minute 
in  the  which  I  saw  nothing  but  the  steep  white  shoulder  of  the 
mountain,  and  there  was  another  minute,  and  that  the  next, 
which  showed  me  a  nether  Heaven  of  fleecy  clouds  that  floated 
along  far  down  in  the  a'ir  beneath  me,  and  showed  me  beyond 
the  breadth  of  all  Syria  west  of  the  Lebanon.  But  chiefly  I 
clung  with  my  eyes  to  the  dim  steadfast  line  of  the  sea  which 
closed  my  utmost  view ;  I  had  grown  well  used  of  late  to  the 
people  and  the  scenes  of  forlorn  Asia — well  used  to  tombs  and 
ruins,  to  silent  cities  and  deserted  plains,  to  tranquil  men  and 
women  sadly  veiled  ;  and  now  that  I  saw  the  even  plain  of  the 
sea,  I  leapt  with  an  easy  leap  to  its  yonder  shores,  and  saw  all 
the  kingdoms  of  the  West  in  that  fair  path  that  could  lead  me 
from  out  of  this  silent  land  straight  on  into  shrill  Marseilles,  or 
round  by  the  pillars  of  Hercules,  to  the  crash  and  roar  of  Lon- 
don. My  place  upon  this  dividing  barrier  was  as  a  man's 


CHAP,  xxviii.]  PASS  OF  THE  LEBANON.  223 

puzzling  station  in  eternity,  between  the  birthless  Past  and  the 
Future  that  has  no  end.  Behind  me  I  left  an  old  decrepid  World 
— Religions  dead  and  dying — calm  tyrannies  expiring  in  silence 
— women  hushed  and  swathed,  and  turned  into  waxen  dolls — 
Love  flown,  and  in  its  stead  mere  Royal  and  "  Paradise  "  plea- 
sures. — Before  me  there  waited  glad  bustle  and  strife, — Love 
itself,  an  emulous  game, — Religion  a  Cause  and  a  Controversy, 
well  smitten  and  well  defended, — men  governed  by  reasons  and 
suasion  of  speech, — wheels  going, — steam  buzzing, — a  mortal 
race  and  a  slashing  pace,  and  the  Devil  taking  the  hindmost, — 
taking  me,  by  Jove  (for  that  was  my  inner  care),  if  I  lingered 
too  long  upon  the  difficult  Pass  that  leads  from  Thought  to 
Action. 

I  descended,  and  went  towards  the  West. 

The  group  of  Cedars,  remaining  on  this  part  of  the  Lebanon, 
is  held  Sacred  by  the  Greek  Church,  on  account  of  a  prevailing 
notion  that  the  trees  were  standing  at  a  time  when  the  Temple 
of  Jerusalem  was  built.  They  occupy  three  or  four  acres  on 
the  mountain's  side,  and  many  of  them  are  gnarled  in  a  way 
that  implies  great  age,  but  except  these  signs  I  saw  nothing  in 
their  appearance  or  conduct  that  tended  to  prove  them  contem- 
poraries of  the  cedars  employed  in  Solomon's  Temple.  The 
final  cause  to  which  these  aged  survivors  owed  their  preserva- 
tion, was  explained  to  me  in  the  evening  by  a  glorious  old  fel- 
low (a  Christian  Chief),  who  made  me  welcome  in  the  valley 
of  Eden.  In  ancient  times,  the  whole  range  of  the  Lebanon 
had  been  covered  with  cedars,  but  as  the  fertile  plains  beneath 
became  more  and  more  infested  with  Government  officers  and 
tyrants  of  high  and  low  degree,  the  people  by  degrees  aban- 
doned them,  and  flocked  to  the  rugged  mountains  which  were 
less  accessible  to  their  indolent  oppressors.  The  cedar  forests 
gradually  shrank  under  the  axe  of  the  encroaching  multitudes, 
and  seemed  at  last  to  be  on  the  point  of  disappearing  entirely, 
when  an  aged  Chief  who  ruled  in  this  district,  and  who  had 
witnessed  the  great  change  effected  even  in  his  own  life-time, 
chose  to  say  that  some  sign  or  memorial  should  be  left  of  the 
vast  woods  with  which  the  mountains  had  formerly  been  clad, 
and  commanded  accordingly  that  this  group  of  trees  (which  was 


2-24  EOTHEN.  [CHAP,  xxviu. 

probably  situate  at  the  highest  point  *  to  which  the  forest  had 
reached),  should  remain  untouched.  The  Chief,  it  seems,  was 
not  moved  by  the  notion  I  have  mentioned  as  prevailing  in  the 
Greek  Church,  but  rather  by  some  sentiment  of  veneration  for 
a  great  natural  feature, — a  sentiment  akin,  perhaps,  to  that  old 
and  earthborn  Religion,  which  made  men  bow  down  to  Creation 
before  they  had  yet  learnt  how  to  know  and  worship  the  Creator. 
The  Chief  of  the  valley  in  which  I  passed  the  night  was  a 
man  of  large  possessions,  and  he  entertained  me  very  sumptu- 
ously ;  he  was  highly  intelligent,  and  had  had  the  sagacity  to 
foresee  that  Europe  would  intervene  authoritatively  in  the  affairs 
of  Syria.  Bearing  this  idea  in  mind,  and  with  a  view  to  give 
his  son  an  advantageous  start  in  the  ambitious  career  for  which 
he  was  destined,  he  had  hired  for  him  a  teacher  of  the  Italian 
language,  the  only  accessible  European  tongue.  The  tutor, 
however,  who  was  a  native  of  Syria,  either  did  not  know,  or  did 
not  choose  to  teach  the  European  forms  of  address,  but  contented 
himself  with  instructing  his  pupil  in  the  mere  language  of  Italy. 
This  circumstance  gave  me  an  opportunity  (the  only  one  I  ever 
had,  or  was  likely  to  have),*  of  hearing  the  phrases  of  Oriental 
courtesy  in  an  European  tongue.  The  boy  was  about  twelve 
or  thirteen  years  old,  and  having  the  advantage  of  being  able  to 
speak  to  me  without  the  aid  of  an  interpreter,  he  took  a  very 
prominent  part  in  doing  the  honors  of  his  father's  house.  He 
went  through  his  duties  with  untiring  assiduity,  and  with  a  kind 
of  gracefulness  which  can  scarcely  be  conveyed  by  mere  de- 
scription to  those  who  are  unacquainted  with  the  manners  of  the 
Asiatics.  The  boy's  address  resembled  a  little  that  of  a  highly 
polished  and  insinuating  Roman  Catholic  Priest,  but  had  more 
of  girlish  gentleness.  It  was  strange  to  hear  him  gravely  and 
slowly  enunciating  the  common  and  extravagant  compliments 
of  the  East  in  good  Italian,  and  in  soft,  persuasive  tones ;  I 
recollect  that  I  was  particularly  amused  at  the  gracious  obsti- 
nacy with  which  he  maintained  that  the  house  in  which  I  was 
so  hospitably  entertained,  belonged  not  to  his  father,  but  to  me  ; 
to  say  this  once,  was  only  to  use  the  common  form  of  speech, 

*  A  Dragoman  never  interprets  in  terms  the  courteous  language  of  the 
East. 


CHAP,  xxviii.]  PASS  OF  THE  LEBANON.  225 

signifying  no  more  than  our  sweet  word  "  welcome,"  but  the 
amusing  part  of  the  matter  was  that,  whenever  in  the  course  of 
conversation  I  happened  to  speak  of  his  father's  house  or  the 
surrounding  domain,  the  boy  invariably  interfered  to  correct  my 
pretended  mistake,  and  to  assure  me  once  again  with  a  gentle 
decisiveness  of  manner  that  the  whole  property  was  really  and 
exclusively  mine,  and  that  his  father  had  not  the  most  distant 
pretensions  to  its  ownership. 

I  received  from  my  host  much  and  (as  I  now  know)  most  true 
information  respecting  the  people  of  the  mountains,  and  their 
power  of  resisting  Mehemet  Ali.  The  Chief  gave  me  very 
plainly  to  understand  that  the  Mountaineers  being  dependent 
upon  others  for  bread  and  gunpowder  (the  two  great  necessaries 
of  martial  life),  could  not  long  hold  out  against  a  power  which 
occupied  the  plains  and  commanded  the  sea,  but  he  also  assured 
me,  and  that  very  significantly,  that  if  this  source  of  weakness 
were  provided  against,  the  Mountaineers  were  to  be  depended 
upon  ;  he  told  me  that  in  ten  or  fifteen  days  the  Chiefs  could 
bring  together  some  fifty  thousand  fighting  men. 


16 


226  EOTHEN.  [CHAP.  xxix. 


CHAPTER    XXIX. 

Surprise  of  Satalich. 

WHILST  I  was  remaining  upon  the  coast  of  Syria,  I  had  the 
good  fortune  to  become  acquainted  with  the  Russian  Sataliefsky,* 
a  General  Officer,  who,  in  his  youth,  had  fought  and^  bled  at 
Borodino,  but  was  now  better  known  among  Diplomats  by  the 
important  trust  committed  to  him  at  a  period  highly  critical  for 
the  affairs  of  Eastern  Europe ;  I  must  not  tell  you  his  family 
name  ;  my  mention  of  his  title  can  do  him  no  harm,  for  it  is  I, 
and  I  only,  who  have  conferred  it  in  consideration  of  the  mili- 
tary and  diplomatic  services  performed  under  my  own  eyes. 

The  General  as  well  as  I  was  bound  for  Smyrna,  and  we 
agreed  to  sail  together  in  an  Ionian  Brigantine.  We  did  not 
charter  the  vessel,  but  we  made  our  arrangement  with  the 
captain  upon  such  terms  that  we  could  be  put  ashore  upon  any 
part  of  the  coast  which  we  might  think  proper.  We  sailed,  and 
day  after  day  the  vessel  lay  dawdling  on  the  sea  with  calms  and 
feeble  breezes  for  her  portion.  I  myself  was  well  repaid  for 
the  painful  restlessness  which  such  weather  occasions,  because 
I  gained  from  my  companion  a  little  of  that  vast  fund  of  inte- 
resting knowledge  with  which  he  was  stored — knowledge,  a 
thousand  times  the  more  highly  to  be  prized,  since  it  was  not  of 
the  sort  that  is  to  be  gathered  from  books,  but  only  from  the  lips 
of  those  who  have  acted  a  part  in  the  world. 

When  after  nine  days  of  sailing,  or  trying  to  sail,  we  found 
ourselves  still  hanging  by  the  mainland  to  the  north  of  the  Isle 
of  Cyprus,  we  determined  to  disembark  at  Satalieh  and  to  proceed 
from  thence  by  land.  A  light  breeze  favored  our  purpose,  and 
it  was  with  great  delight  that  we  neared  the  fragrant  land,  and 

*  A  title  signifying  Transcender  or  Conqueror  of  Satalieh. 


CHAP,  xxix.]  SURPRISE  OF  SATALIEH.  227 

saw  our  anchor  go  down  in  the  bay  of  Satalieh,  within  two  or 
three  hundred  yards  of  the  shore. 

The  town  of  Satalieh*  is  the  chief  place  of  the  Pashalik  in 
which  it  is  situate,  and  its  citadel  is  the  residence  of  the  Pasha. 
We  had  scarcely  dropped  our  anchor  when  a  boat  from  the 
shore  came  alongside,  with  officers  on  board,  who  announced 
that  the  strictest  orders  had  been  received  for  maintaining  a  qua- 
rantine of  three  weeks  against  all  vessels  coming  from  Syria, 
and  directed  accordingly  that  no  one  from  the  vessel  should  dis- 
embark. In  reply  we  sent  a  message  to  the  Pasha,  setting  forth 
the  rank  and  titles  of  the  General,  and  requiring  permission  to 
go  ashore.  After  a  while  the  boat  came  again  alongside,  and  the 
officers  declaring  that  the  orders  received  from  Constantinople 
were  imperative  and  unexceptional,  formally  enjoined  us  in  the 
name  of  the  Pasha  to  abstain  from  any  attempt  to  land. 

I  had  been  hitherto  much  less  impatient  of  our  slow  voyage 
than  my  gallant  friend,  but  this  opposition  made  the  smooth  sea 
seem  to  me  like  a  prison  from  which  I  must  and  would  break 
out.  I  had  an  unbounded  faith  in  the  feebleness  of  Asiatic  Po- 
tentates, and  I  proposed  that  we  should  set  the  Pasha  at  defiance. 
The  General  had  been  worked  up  to  a  state  of  the  most  painful 
agitation  by  the  idea  of  being  driven  from  the  shore  which 
smiled  so  pleasantly  before  his  eyes,  and  he  adopted  my  sugges- 
tion with  rapture. 

We  determined  to  land. 

To  approach  the  sweet  shore  after  a  tedious  voyage,  and  then 
to  be  suddenly  and  unexpectedly  prohibited  from  landing, — this 
is  so  maddening  to  the  temper  that  no  one  who  had  ever  experi- 
enced the  trial  would  say  that  even  the  most  violent  impatience 
of  such  restraint  is  wholly  inexcusable.  I  am  not  going  to  pre- 
tend, however,  that  the  course  which  we  chose  to  adopt  on  this 
occasion  can  be  perfectly  justified.  The  impropriety  of  a  tra- 
veller's setting  at  naught  the  regulations  of  a  foreign  state  is 
clear  enough,  and  the  bad  taste  of  compassing  such  a  purpose 
by  mere  gasconading,  is  still  more  glaringly  plain.  I  knew 

*  Spelt  "Attalia"  and  sometimes  "  Adalia "  in  English  books  and 
maps. 


228  EOTHEN.  [CHAP.  xxix. 

perfectly  well  that  if  the  Pasha  understood  his  duty,  and  had 
energy  enough  to  perform  it,  he  would  order  out  a  file  of  soldiers  the 
moment  we  landed,  and  cause  us  both  to  be  shot  upon  the  beach, 
without  allowing  more  contact  than  might  be  absolutely  necessary 
for  the  purpose  of  making  us  stand  fire,  but  I  also  firmly  believed 
that  the  Pasha  would  not  see  the  line  of  conduct  which  he  ought  to 
adopt  nearly  so  well  as  I  did,  and  that  even  if  he  did  know  his  duty 
he  would  never  be  able  to  find  resolution  enough  to  perform  it. 

We  ordered  the  boat  to  be  got  in  readiness,  and  the  officers  on 
shore  seeing  these  preparations,  gathered  together  a  number  of 
guards  who  assembled  upon  the  sands  ;  we  saw  that  great  ex- 
citement prevailed,  and  that  messengers  were  continually  going 
to  and  fro  between  the  shore  and  the  citadel.  Our  Captain,  out 
of  compliment  to  his  Excellency,  had  provided  the  vessel  with  a 
Russian  war-flag,  which  he  had  hoisted  alternately  with  the 
Union  Jack,  and  we  agreed  that  we  would  attempt  our  disem- 
barkation under  this,  the  Russian  standard  ;  I  was  glad  when 
we  came  to  that  resolution,  for  I  should  have  been  very  sorry  to 
engage  the  honored  flag  of  England  in  such  an  affair  as  that 
which  we  were  undertaking.  The  Russian  ensign  was  there- 
fore committed  to  one  of  the  sailors,  who  took  his  station  at  the 
stern  of  the  boat.  We  gave  particular  instructions  to  the  Captain 
of  the  Brigantine,  and  when  all  was  ready,  the  General  and  I 
without  our  respective  servants  got  into  the  boat,  and  were  slow- 
ly rowed  towards  the  shore.  The  guards  gathered  together  at 
the  point  for  which  we  were  making,  but  when  they  saw  our 
boat  went  on  without  altering  her  course,  they  ceased  to  stand 
very  still ;  none  of  them  ran  away  or  even  shrank  back,  but 
they  looked  as  if  the  pack  were  being  shuffled,  every  man  seem- 
ing desirous  to  change  places  with  his  neighbor.  They  were 
still  at  their  post  however  when  our  oars  went  in,  and  the  bow 
of  our  boat  ran  up — well  up  upon  the  beach. 

The  General  was  lame  by  an  honorable  wound  which  he  had 
gained  at  Borodino,  and  required  some  assistance  in  getting  out 
of  the  boat ;  I,  therefore,  landed  the  first.  My  instructions  to 
the  Captain  were  attended  to  with  the  most  perfect  accuracy,  for 
scarcely  had  my  foot  indented  the  sand,  when  the  four  six- 
pounders  of  the  Brigantine  sublimely  rolled  out  their  brute 


CHAP,  xxix.]  SURPRISE   OF  SATALIEH.  229 

thunder.  Precisely  as  I  had  expected,  the  guards,  and  all  the 
people  who  had  gathered  about  them,  gave  way  under  the  shock 
produced  by  the  mere  sound  of  guns,  and  we  were  all  allowed 
to  disembark  without  the  least  molestation. 

We  immediately  formed  a  little  column,  or  rather,  as  I  should 
have  called  it,  a  procession,  for  we  had  no  fighting  aptitude  in 
us,  and  were  only  trying,  as  it  were,  how  far  we  could  go  in 
frightening  full-grown  children.  First  marched  the  sailor  with 
the  Russian  flag  of  war  bravely  flying  in  the  breeze ;  then  came 
the  General  and  I ;  then  our  servants,  and  lastly,  if  I  rightly 
recollect,  two  more  of  the  Brigantine's  crew.  Our  flag-bearer 
entered  into  the  spirit  of  the  enterprise,  and  bore  the  standard 
aloft  with  so  much  pomp  and  dignity,  that  I  found  it  exceedingly 
hard  to  keep  a  grave  countenance.  We  advanced  towards  the 
castle,  but  the  people  had  now  had  time  to  recover  from  the 
effect  of  the  six-pounders  (which  were  only,  of  course,  loaded 
with  powder),  and  they  could  not  help  seeing,  not  only  the  weak- 
ness of  our  party,  but  the  very  slight  amount  of  pomp  and  power 
which  it  seemed  to  imply  ;  they  began  to  hang  round  us  more 
closely,  and  just  as  this  reaction  was  beginning,  the  General, 
who  was  perfectly  unacquainted  with  the  Asiatic  character, 
thoughtlessly  turned  round  in  order  to  speak  to  one  of  the  ser- 
vants ;  the  effect  of  this  slight  move  was  magical  ;  the  people 
thought  we  were  going  to  give  way,  and  instantly  closed  round 
us.  In  two  words,  and  with  one  touch,  I  showed  my  comrade 
the  danger  he  was  running,  and  in  the  next  instant  we  were 
both  advancing  more  pompously  than  ever.  Some  minutes 
afterwards  there  was  a  second  appearance  of  reaction,  followed 
again  by  wavering  and  indecision  on  the  part  of  the  Pasha's 
people,  but  at  length  it  seemed  to  be  understood  that  we  should 
go  unmolested  into  the  audience  hall. 

Constant  communication  had  been  going  on  between  the  re- 
ceding crowd  and  the  Pasha,  and  so  when  we  reached  the  gates 
of  the  citadel  we  saw  that  preparations  were  made  for  giving 
us  an  awe-striking  reception.  Parting  at  once  from  the  sailors 
and  our  servants,  the  General  and  I  were  conducted  into  the 
audience  hall ;  and  there  at  least  I  suppose  the  Pasha  hoped 
that  he  would  confound  us  by  his  greatness.  The  hall  was 


230  EOTHEN.  [CHAP.  xxix. 

nothing  more  than  a  large  white-washed  room ;  Oriental  poten- 
tates have  a  pride  in  that  sort  of  simplicity  when  they  can 
contrast  it  with  the  exhibition  of  power,  and  this  the  Pasha  was 
able  to  do,  for  the  lower  end  of  the  hall  was  filled  with  his  offi- 
cers ;  these  men,  of  whom  I  thought  there  were  about  fifty  or 
sixty,  were  all  handsomely  though  plainly  dressed  in  the  mili- 
tary frock-coats  of  Europe  ;  they  stood  in  mass  and  so  as  to 
present  a  hollow,  semicircular  front  towards  the  upper  end  of 
the  hall  at  which  the  Pasha  sat;  they  opened  a  narrow  lane  for 
us  when  we  entered,  and  as  soon  as  we  had  passed  they  again 
closed  up  their  ranks.  An  attempt  was  made  to  induce  us  to 
remain  at  a  respectful  distance  from  his  Mightiness ;  to  have 
yielded  in  this  point  would  have  been  fatal  to  our  success, — perhaps 
to  our  lives ;  but  the  General  and  I  had  already  determined 
upon  the  place  which  we  should  take,  and  we  rudely  pushed  on 
towards  the  upper  end  of  the  hall. 

Upon  the  divan  and  close  up  against  the  right  hand  corner  of 
the  room  there  sat  the  Pasha — his  limbs  gathered  in — the  w holt- 
creature  coiled  up  like  an  adder.  His  cheeks  were  deadly  pale, 
and  his  lips  had  turned  white,  for  without  moving  a  muscle  the 
man  impressed  me  with  an  immense  idea  of  wrath  within  him. 
He  kept  his  eyes  inexorably  fixed,  as  if  upon  vacancy,  and  with 
the  look  of  a  man  accustomed  to  refuse  the  prayers  of  those 
who  sue  for  life.  We  soon  discomposed  him,  however,  from 
this  studied  fixity  of  feature,  for  we  marched  straight  up  to  the 
divan  and  sat  down,  the  Russian  close  to  the  Pasha,  and  I  by 
the  side  of  the  Russian.  This  act  astonished  the  attendants  and 
plainly  disconcerted  the  Pasha ;  he  could  no  longer  maintain 
the  glassy  stillness  of  the  eyes  which  he  had  affected,  and  evi- 
dently became  much  agitated.  At  the  feet  of  the  Satrap  there 
stood  a  trembling  Italian  ;  this  man  was  a  sort  of  medico  in  the 
potentate's  service,  and  now,  in  the  absence  of  our  attendants, 
he  was  to  act  as  interpreter.  The  Pasha  caused  him  to  tell  us 
that  we  had  openly  defied  his  authority,  and  had  forced  our  way 
upon  shore  in  the  teeth  of  his  own  officers. 

Up  to  this  time  I  had  been  the  planner  of  the  enterprise,  but 
now  that  the  moment  had  come  when  all  would  depend  upon  able 
and  earnest  speechifying,  I  felt  at  once  the  immense  superiority 


CHAP,  xxix.]  SURPRISE  OF  SATALIEH.  231 

of  my  gallant  friend,  and  gladly  left  to  him  the  whole  conduct 
of  the  discussion  ;  indeed  he  had  vast  advantages  over  me,  not 
only  by  his  superior  command  of  language,  and  his  far  more 
spirited  style  of  address,  but  also  in  his  consciousness  of  a  good 
cause,  for  whilst  I  felt  myself  completely  in  the  wrong,  his 
Excellency  had  really  worked  himself  up  to  believe  that  the 
Pasha's  refusal  to  permit  our  landing  was  a  gross  outrage  and 
insult.  Therefore,  without  deigning  to  defend  our  conduct,  he 
at  once  commenced  a  spirited  attack  upon  the  Pasha.  The  poor 
Italian  Doctor  translated  one  or  two  sentences  to  the  Pasha,  but 
he  evidently  mitigated  their  import ;  the  Russian,  growing  warm, 
insisted  upon  his  attack  with  redoubled  energy  and  spirit ;  but 
the  medico,  instead  of  translating,  began  to  shake  violently  with 
terror,  and  at  last  he  came  out  with  his  "  non  ardisco,"  and 
fairly  confessed  that  he  dared  not  interpret  fierce  words  to  his 
master. 

Now  then,  at  a  time  when  everything  seemed  to  depend  upon 
the  effect  of  speech,  we  were  left  without  an  interpreter. 

But  this  very  circumstance,  which  at  first  appeared  so  un- 
favorable, turned  out  to  be  advantageous.  The  General,  finding 
that  he  could  not  have  his  words  translated,  ceased  to  speak  in 
Italian,  ^wid  recurred  to  his  accustomed  French ;  he  became 
eloquent ;  no  one  present,  except  myself,  understood  one  syllable 
of  what  he  was  saying,  but  he  had  drawn  forth  his  passport,  and 
the  energy  and  violence  with  which,  as  he  spoke,  he  pointed  to 
the  graven  Eagle  of  Russia,  began  to  make  an  impression ;  the 
Pasha  saw  at  his  side  a  man,  who  not  only  seemed  to  be  entirely 
without  fear,  but  to  be  raging  with  just  indignation,  and  thence- 
forward he  plainly  began  to  think  that  in  some  way  or  other  (he 
could  not  tell  how),  he  must  certainly  have  been  in  the  wrong. 
In  a  little  time  he  was  so  much  shaken,  that  the  Italian  ventured 
to  resume  his  interpretation,  and  my  comrade  had  again  the  op- 
portunity of  pressing  his  attack  upon  the  Pasha  ;  his  argument, 
if  I  rightly  recollect  its  import,  was  to  this  effect — "  If  the  vilest 
Jews  were  to  come  into  the  harbor,  you  would  but  forbid  them 
to  land,  and  force  them  to  perform  quarantine,  yet  this  is  the 
very  course,  O  Pasha,  which  your  rash  officers  dared  to  think  of 
adopting  with  us  / — those  ma J  and  reckless  men  would  have 


232  EOTHEX.  [CHAP.  xxix. 

actually  dealt  towards  a  Russian  General  Officer  and  an  Eng- 
lish Gentleman  as  if  they  had  been  wretched  Israelites !  Never, 
never,  will  we  submit  to  such  an  indignity.  His  Imperial 
Majesty  knows  how  to  protect  his  nobles  from  insult,  and  would 
never  endure  that  a  General  of  his  army  should  be  treated  in 
matter  of  quarantine,  as  though  he  were  a  mere  Eastern  Jew  !" 
This  argument  told  with  great  effect ;  the  Pasha  fairly  admitted 
that  he  felt  its  weight,  and  he  now  only  struggled  to  obtain  a 
compromise,  which  might  seem  to  save  his  dignity ;  he  wanted 
us  to  perform  a  quarantine  of  one  day  for  form's  sake,  and  in 
order  to  show  his  people  that  he  was  not  utterly  defied,  but 
finding  that  we  were  inexorable,  he  not  only  abandoned  his 
attempt,  but  promised  to  supply  us  with  horses. 

When  the  discussion  had  arrived  at  this  happy  conclusion, 
tchibouques  and  coffee  were  brought,  and  we  passed,  I  think, 
nearly  an  hour  in  friendly  conversation.  The  Pasha,  it  now  ap- 
peared, had  once  been  a  prisoner  of  war  in  Russia,  and  the  con- 
viction of  the  Emperor's  power,  which  he  must  have  acquired 
during  his  captivity,  probably  rendered  him  more  alive  than  an 
untravelled  Turk  would  have  been  to  the  force  of  rny  comrade's 
eloquence. 

The  Pasha  now  gave  us  a  generous  feast ;  our  promised  hor- 
ses were  brought  without  much  delay  ;  I  gained  my  loved  saddle 
once  more,  and  when  the  moon  got  up  and  touched  the  heights 
of  Taurus,  we  were  joyfully  winding  our  way  through  one  of 
his  rugged  denies. 


THE  END. 


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